US upgrade could breach nuclear test ban treaty

WASHINGTON - As it accuses Iran of trying to develop nuclear weapons, the US is preparing to upgrade and renew parts of its own ageing nuclear arsenal.

Critics believe the upgrades could lead the US to breach the treaty banning the testing of nuclear weapons.

Since the project will likely involve replacing technology developed in the 1960s with the latest available, watchdogs are concerned the US might be inclined to test such weapons and breach the 1996 Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT).

"It is being done to revitalise the existing stockpile," said Matt Martin, deputy director of the British and American Security Information Council (BASIC).

Of more concern to watchdogs is the Bush administration's dedication to developing a new breed of bunker buster nuclear weapons, designed to to penetrate the most toughened underground defences.

Critics say the plan reveals the administration's hypocrisy and undermines international efforts to persuade other countries not to develop weapons.

Last week it was revealed that Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had sent the Department of Energy a memo requesting that it set aside funds to resume a study to examine the development of a bunker buster. The study was halted last year after Congress removed its funding.

A Pentagon spokesman, Major Paul Swiergosz, said: "The Defence Department does support completion of the penetrator study. We can't necessarily match Cold War weapons to the new threats. We have to adapt capabilities that we have to meet the threats."

- INDEPENDENT