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The Push for a New "Long-Range Stand Off" Weapon

by Marylia Kelley from Tri-Valley CAREs' Summer 2014 newsletter, Citizen's Watch

Facing a 5-year delay with no funds to design an "interoperable warhead" for ICBMs and subs, the nuclear weapons laboratories and other nuclear enthusiasts have begun mobilizing support for yet another horrific and destabilizing new nuke, this time a Long-Range Stand Off weapon, or LRSO. The LRSO concept involves both a new redesigned nuclear warhead and delivery vehicle.

The Cruise Missile: A cruise missile is guided, i.e., self-navigating rather than dropped, highly accurate and able to carry its warhead over long distances at high or supersonic speeds. Further, a cruise missile has an extremely low-altitude trajectory, meaning it flies close to the earth to avoid detection by radar. It is called a standoff weapon because the pilot need not be anywhere near the nuclear blast and it is inherently a surprise or sneak weapon as it is often undetectable in flight.

The new LRSO would replace the AGM-86B air launched cruise missile in the arsenal by 2030. In June, the Air Force released a solicitation for defense contractors to provide their ideas for new approaches to manufacturing the new missile. The Air Force also reported that Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Northrup Grumman and Raytheon have all begun "LRSO trade studies."

The Air Force plans to equip its B-2A stealth bomber and its proposed Long-Range Strike Bomber with nuclear capability to carry the new LRSO. The LRSO will also be carried by the already nuclear-capable B-52H.

As we have reported before, the government's apparently never-ending series of proposals to "modernize," i.e., redesign and rebuild, the nation's nuclear weapons stockpile belies any talk of nuclear disarmament or fulfilling U.S. obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty. This is the very definition of proliferation-provocative behavior.

The Warhead: There are two warheads being considered for redesign for the new LRSO, the W80-1 and the W84. The W80-1 is fielded on present day air launched cruise missiles. The W84 is from the ground-launched cruise missile, now banned by treaty.

The W84 was placed into "managed retirement" and is being held outside of the DOE National Nuclear Security Administration's dismantlement queue "indefinitely" in case the nuclear weapons labs want to revive it for re-use in a new warhead.

So, unbeknownst to most Americans, the U.S. is keeping "zombie warheads" that have supposedly been retired in deep storage, but ready to be sewn together into new weapons concepts at some future date. And, one of these zombie warheads is now a leading candidate for the LRSO.

Livermore Lab, which designed the W84 and also has responsibility for the W80-1, touted its completion of 30-day and 90-day studies to move the LRSO design concept forward. Its latest "performance evaluation" stated that even though Livermore started this work with no LRSO budget it nonetheless prioritized the studies above other, funded activities.

Sandia Lab called the LRSO "inherently thrilling" because the last time a missile and warhead were concurrently designed and fielded was during the 1980s cold war-era. According to Sandia's magazine, its staff has gone to Washington, DC to "help" decision-makers prioritize the LRSO.

Because the new warhead is in its initial design stages, it is an open question what new military features will be incorporated into this next-generation weapon.

The Funding: The current Defense Dept. cruise missile development is slated to ramp up slowly, beginning with $5 million in the coming year and then growing to more than a billion dollars. According to DoD, their schedule depends on the NNSA and its nuclear weapons labs.

The NNSA weapons labs' redesign and production of a new warhead for the LRSO is estimated to cost about $20 billion. So far this year the Senate Energy & Water subcommittee appropriations bill does not fund design work on the LRSO warhead. However, the FY 2015 budget process remains in flux with no final bill in sight.

On this website, in electronic alerts and in future editions of Citizen's Watch, we will keep you informed about the LRSO. We invite your activism with us to ensure that this new nuclear weapon is stopped so that it does not become tomorrow's nuclear nightmare.

Haz Waste Alert!

by Scott Yundt from Tri-Valley CAREs' Summer 2014 newsletter, Citizen's Watch

Nuclear weapons development is a dirty business. Thus, significant quantities of hazardous and "mixed" wastes (i.e. radioactive constituents together with hazardous constituents) are produced by Livermore Lab every year. California's Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) has finally reviewed Livermore Lab's Hazardous Waste Permit Renewal Application and has begun drafting the permit, which details how the Lab handles, treats and stores its hazardous and mixed wastes.

The Lab's first hazardous waste permit was issued in 1999. Tri-Valley CAREs, and several colleague groups, sued to force DTSC to enhance enforcement and monitoring of the Lab's waste treatment and storage processes.

That permit required renewal after 10 years, but it has taken 15 years for DTSC to coordinate the renewal process because of backlog. In that time, the Lab has opened a new waste treatment facility and has packaged, treated, transported and stored hazardous and mixed waste in new areas of the Lab without an in-depth review.

Public release of the official Draft Permit is still to come. Tri-Valley CAREs has met with the DTSC project manager and has offered initial suggestions.

Once the public process begins, we will update you on how to get involved (i.e. by submitting written comments and attending the public hearing). Together, we will ensure a transparent process that holds the Lab's waste operations to the highest standard of the law.

A Letter from our Executive Director

by Marylia Kelley from Tri-Valley CAREs' Summer 2014 newsletter, Citizen's Watch

Dear Tri-Valley CAREs supporter,

Tri-Valley CAREs builds a strong grassroots movement locally and impacts nuclear weapons policy nationally. Your gift today will help us accomplish both goals!

Tri-Valley CAREs and allied organizations are putting finishing touches on the annual Hiroshima Commemoration and Action at the gates of Livermore Lab. We will stand with the Japanese Hibakusha (A-bomb survivors) on August 6 to say "never again." Further, our action will make visible the present day reality of U.S. nuclear weapons and militarism. I ask you to support this action with your presence, if possible, and also with your generous financial contribution.

I am excited to tell you also that we have launched our first-ever Youth Video Contest. This is part of our ongoing initiative to engage the next generation in environmental justice and nuclear disarmament issues and to ensure their voices are heard. Young people are invited to explore what's at stake with nuclear weapons and what clean air, land and water mean to them. All videos will be available on Tri-Valley CAREs' YouTube channel, and we are offering a $500 prize to the winning entrant. I know you understand the importance of involving youth and hope that you will make a tax-deductible donation to enable us to continue our efforts.

Tri-Valley CAREs' board, staff and volunteers will meet on August 23 to construct the community-based strategic plan that will guide our actions in the coming year. We are also planning a daylong meeting at Livermore Lab on the Superfund cleanup of toxic and radioactive contamination there. As your nuclear weapons watchdog we are ever vigilant, and we will keep you informed through our Citizen's Watch, electronic alerts, website, Facebook and more.

Tri-Valley CAREs plays a unique role in challenging nuclear weapons. We operate in "the belly of the beast." As you know, we are from the community surrounding Livermore Lab, where 89% of the budget request is for nuclear development and only 2% for cleanup. Clearly, for all of our many successes, there is work still to be done.

And, with your help, we are pressing forward. Daily, we speak truth to power in this community. Tri-Valley CAREs pierces the veil of secrecy and exposes the lies and mismanagement underneath. We use the information we glean to force changes in Livermore Lab operations. Then, we leverage it and use it nationally.

When Tri-Valley CAREs goes to Congress and the United Nations we bring irrefutable local knowledge about nuclear weapons and the contamination they cause. Consequently, I am happy to report to you that we are heard and are able to create positive change in specific ways that other groups cannot.

I know you understand that your support is essential to our ability to continue doing this work. May I count on your charitable gift today?

Earlier this year Tri-Valley CAREs was successful in cutting the funding to design an "interoperable" warhead, capable of launching nuclear war interchangeably from a silo or a submarine. Working with allies inside and outside of government, we won a 5-year delay for this new weapons program at Livermore Lab, and we aim to make that delay permanent.

However, I must tell you that the nuclear weapons designers are responding with a vile new proposal. Their idea is to develop a new cutting-edge warhead that will then be mated with a new air launched cruise missile. This would allow pilots to "standoff" at a distance and launch nuclear weapons designed to evade radar as they speed toward unsuspecting targets.

Tri-Valley CAREs is stepping up with the research, education, outreach and advocacy necessary to prevent a new "standoff" nuclear warhead from becoming a horrible reality.

I am sure you recognize that, by working together, we can prevail. Tri-Valley CAREs has led successful campaigns against nuclear weapons that Livermore Lab was designing, including the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator and the so-called Reliable Replacement Warhead. That these weapons are not household names today is because they were both stopped in the design phase, before they could be built en masse for the stockpile. That's Tri-Valley CAREs in action!

You and I know that our ability to achieve the peace and security of a nuclear weapons free world in the future depends on our ability to stop new nukes now, before they are built. This is the indispensible work that I ask you to join me in supporting today. You can mail a check with the reply card, below, or you can give on-line at www.trivalleycares.org. THANK YOU!

For peace, justice and a healthy environment,

Marylia Kelley

Executive Director

P.S. One of our wonderful 2014 Board Members, Beverly King, has recently passed away after an illness. Her family is asking friends to make a contribution to Tri-Valley CAREs in her honor. Bev was much loved and will be sorely missed. Thank you for any contribution you are able to make.

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