Transforming Test Site could have an annual price tag of $15 million

Benjamin Grove

Thursday, Jan. 10, 2002 | 9:30 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- The process of transforming the Nevada Test Site back into the nation's nuclear proving ground after a 10-year idle would be a massive undertaking if the Bush administration decided to do it, federal officials said Wednesday.

Pentagon and Department of Energy officials at a press briefing Wednesday again stressed that President Bush has no intention of abandoning a test ban implemented in 1992 by his father, President George H.W. Bush.

"There's no change in the administration's policy on nuclear testing," said J.D. Crouch, assistant secretary of defense for international security.

But if Bush ever changed his mind -- if serious questions arise about the effectiveness of the nation's nuclear bombs and missiles -- Bush wants the Test Site prepared to conduct underground tests within an estimated 18 months, not the two to three years it would take under current scenarios, officials said.

Preparations for new nuclear tests at the Nevada site could cost $15 million a year, said John Harvey, director of office policy planning assessment analysis at the National Nuclear Security Administration.

As it stands, it would take up to three years to get the site ready for a number of reasons, Harvey told reporters after the briefing. Officials would have to purchase and put in place an array of sophisticated testing equipment, Harvey said.

Also, officials would need to assemble a small army of bomb test personnel, and in many cases trained workers, he said.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.