WASHINGTON — President Bush has approved "a significant reduction" in the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile, cutting it to less than one-quarter of its size at the end of the Cold War, the White House said Tuesday.

At the same time, the Energy Department announced plans to consolidate the nuclear weapons complex that maintains warheads and dismantle those no longer needed, saying that the current facilities need to be made more efficient and more easily secured and that the larger complex is no longer needed.

"We are reducing our nuclear weapons stockpile to the lowest level consistent with America's national security and our commitments to friends and allies," White House press secretary Dana Perino said. "A credible deterrent remains an essential part of U.S. national security, and nuclear forces remain key to meeting emerging security challenges."

The government will not provide any numbers on the overall size of the nuclear stockpile, but there are believed to be nearly 6,000 warheads that are either deployed or in reserve.

Separately, under terms of a 2002 arms control treaty with Russia, the U.S. is committed to reducing the number of deployed warheads to between 1,700 and 2,200 by 2012.

Three years ago, Bush said that he wanted the overall stockpile reduced to half by 2012, but officials said that goal now has been reached, so further reductions are being made, resulting in the new targets for 2012.

The Energy Department has been examining ways to consolidate the complex of weapons stockpile-related facilities at eight major locations throughout the country. They include research laboratories and other sites involved in nuclear stockpile stewardship and warhead dismantlement.

"Today's nuclear weapons complex needs to move from the outdated Cold War complex into one that is smaller, safer, more secure and less expensive," said Thomas D'Agostino, administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration, which oversees nuclear warhead programs within the department.

Under the consolidation proposal, which must still go through formal environmental reviews, special nuclear material used in weapons will be moved to five sites by the end of 2012 and the overall workforce will be reduced by 20 percent to 30 percent.

Copyright 2007 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed