This appears to be RRW’s final death knell this year, as it is unlikely that there will be another opportunity to restore money for the warhead during this abbreviated election year.

The Senate action marks the end of several years of battling over the RRW. After initial Congressional support, key legislators became concerned that the RRW -- which seemed initially to be a limited program and a vehicle for stockpile reductions -- was actually part of a plan to reinvigorate and expand the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal.

We rejoice that this dangerous and unnecessary new weapons program has met the same fate as the "bunker buster" weapon. Slowly, the message is getting through - at a time when there is more momentum than ever for a world freed from the shadow of nuclear weapons, there is no place for new warhead programs.

From the beginning, WAND opposed the RRW, noting that it would undermine our nonproliferation efforts and instead result in building new nuclear weapons, potentially sparking a new nuclear arms race.

We hope that the next President will not be eager to pursue this embattled, counterproductive and dangerous new nuclear weapon.

Let's keep it up! Now's the time to spread the word - to build a safer world for ourselves and our children, nuclear weapons must be eliminated.

In late 2006, the JASONs (an independent panel of scientists and engineers that has long advised the U.S. government on nuclear weapons issues) assessed data from plutonium "accelerated aging" experiments conducted at the nuclear weapons laboratories. The report concluded that the plutonium components in U.S. nuclear warheads have lifetimes of at least 85 years, and possibly much longer. Since the oldest warheads were built in the 1970s, the core nuclear components of current warheads will remain vital for at least another fifty years.

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