Bush orders nuclear stockpile cut

WASHINGTON – President Bush has approved “a significant reduction” in the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile, cutting it to less than one-quarter 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 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.

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 either are 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 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 across the country. They include federal research laboratories and other sites involved in nuclear stockpile stewardship and warhead dismantlement.

While none of the eight major facilities will be closed, about 600 buildings or structures will be closed or shifted to non-weapons activities and two testing facilities supporting weapons labs will be closed.