Did you know that the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima in August of 1945 was codenamed "Little boy"? That's an awfully benign nickname for such a deadly and devastating weapon, which killed at least 80,000 people outright and countless others in its aftermath.

But this awful history is not yet behind us: the Bush administration has requested $8.5 million in the 2006 budget for research on a "Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator" (RNEP), a new nuclear weapon also known as the nuclear "bunker buster." A single "bunker buster" would be nearly 100 times more powerful than the nuclear bomb that destroyed Hiroshima.

We've launched a campaign with our nonprofit partner, the Union of Concerned Scientists, to stop the "bunker buster" before it is built. The vote on this funding could come this week: please tell your Senators to oppose new nuclear weapons today.

The "bunker buster" is being promoted by the Bush administration as a useful tool in attacking deeply buried command centers or underground stores of chemical and biological weapons. But numerous scientific critiques, including one by the National Academy of Science, find that in many cases such a weapon would be ineffective. In addition, the nuclear blast and radioactive fall-out could kill millions of innocent people in surrounding areas.

With global concerns around nuclear proliferation in North Korea and Iran, the last thing we need is further proliferation here at home. If the United States truly wants to lead the world toward a peaceful future, then we need to take the lead in abolishing nuclear weapons, not in developing new ones!

Please sign this petition today to tell your Senators you oppose any funding for research on "bunker buster" nuclear weapons: http://www.care2.com/go/z/25447

Thank you for acting for peace,

-Rebecca,
Care2 and ThePetitionSite team

Get the facts: Watch this two-minute flash video by UCS to learn more about the potentially devastating effects of "bunker busters."

Crossposted to The Rogue Angel.

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Did you know that the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima in August of 1945 was codenamed "Little boy"? That's an awfully benign nickname for such a deadly and devastating weapon, which killed at least 80,000 people outright and countless others... [Read More]

Tracked on June 29, 2005 07:53 PM

Posted by: David Anderson at June 30, 2005 12:42 AM

Posted by: Rogue at June 30, 2005 10:38 AM