American nuclear weapons scientists have quietly begun preliminary work on a new generation of warheads intended to be more dependable and longer-lasting than those currently in the stockpile, according to a report published by The New York Times on 7 February 2005.
Initial funding of around $9 million has been directed to designers at the country's three nuclear weapons laboratories. The effort could yield completed designs within five to 10 years, after which Congress and a future administration would need to authorize prototype development.
Supporters argue the program could ultimately shrink the overall arsenal by replacing aging warheads with more certifiable designs, reducing the need to keep thousands of backup weapons. The existing stockpile of roughly 10,000 warheads can no longer be reliably verified because international agreements prohibit live testing.
Opponents warn the initiative risks igniting a new arms race and could revive underground testing. Daryl Kimball of the Arms Control Association called it "a pretext for designing a weapon that has a new military mission," arguing the current stockpile already meets all safety and reliability standards.
Historical summary. TurkishPress restated this AFP wire report, first published in February 2005, in its own words.