Roanoke Times Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc. DATE: WEDNESDAY, October 6, 1993 TAG: 9310060036 SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-8 EDITION: METRO SOURCE: Associated Press DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
U.S. analysts and some members of Congress said they interpreted Clinton's response as a diplomatic jab at China and a cautious way of keeping a U.S. test-resumption option alive rather than reflecting an intent to order a test anytime soon.
"This is a positive approach he is taking," said Rep. Mike Kopetski, D-Ore., an architect of the 1992 U.S. test moratorium which Clinton reaffirmed in July. "I think the president is showing restraint because he knows that just because China is acting like a rogue nation doesn't mean we should, too."
Hours after its underground nuclear blast, China issued a statement saying its nuclear weapons are for self-defense and reiterating that it would join in negotiations starting in January to ban all nuclear weapons tests by the end of 1996.
A White House statement said Clinton had ordered the Energy Department to "take such actions as are needed to put the U.S. in a position to be able to conduct nuclear tests next year."
It said Clinton had not decided to actually resume testing.
Energy Department spokesman Sam Grizzle said Clinton's action means the department, which is responsible for designing, manufacturing and testing all U.S. nuclear weapons, will begin studies aimed at ensuring the safety of a prospective test. It also will begin preparing the instrumentation for a test, he said, but it will not take steps beyond that, such as assembling a nuclear device.
Current law says the government can conduct tests only to ensure the safety and reliability of existing weapons, not to test new ones. Any tests must be certified to Congress as necessary, and Congress can disapprove a proposed test.
That provision in the law makes a resumption of U.S. testing unlikely in the near term, because Clinton declared just three months ago that "my administration has determined that the nuclear weapons in the United States' arsenal are safe and reliable."
The last known nuclear weapons tests were conducted in September 1992 by the United States and China. Russia has not tested since 1990, and the other two declared nuclear weapons countries - France and Britain - last tested in 1991.
China's test came less than two weeks after Beijing's bid to host the Olympics in 2000 was rejected in favor of Sydney, Australia. It was unclear Tuesday whether China had deliberately put off the test until after the International Olympic Committee's decision.
by CNB