Funding for ‘Bunker Buster’ Nuclear Warhead Is Dropped

The Bush administration has abandoned research into a “bunker-buster” nuclear warhead, deciding instead to pursue a similar device using conventional weaponry, a key Republican senator said Tuesday.

Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.) said funding for the warhead as part of the Energy Department’s fiscal 2006 budget had been dropped at the department’s request.

The nuclear bunker-buster had been the focus of intense debate in Congress, with opponents saying that its development as a tactical weapon could add to nuclear proliferation.

Administration officials have contended that the country must try to develop a nuclear warhead that could destroy buried targets including bunkers tunneled into rock.

The House blocked funding for the program, even though the Energy Department had scaled back its request to $4 million. The Senate approved the $4 million, but a final decision was up to lawmakers working out a compromise between the House and Senate on the department’s budget.

Domenici, who heads the subcommittee that oversees the Energy Department budget, said the conferees had agreed to drop the funding at the request of the department’s National Nuclear Security Administration.