US vows to maintain nuke preeminence

Linton Brooks, who heads the agency that maintains the US nuclear weapons stockpile, said the Bush administration has no current plans to end a decade-long moratorium on nuclear testing or develop new types of atomic arms.

Brooks defended administration proposals to allow research into possible new, low-yield nuclear weapons that could incinerate enemy biological weapons or destroy deeply buried bunkers, and into converting two existing larger bombs for use against underground targets.

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The administration won congressional support for the measures in May. Lawmakers must work out differences between House of Representatives and Senate versions before final passage.

"We're not going to restart the arms race," Brooks, under secretary of energy for nuclear security and chief of the National Nuclear Security Administration, told a briefing with defense reporters.