US back in nuclear bomb-making business

'Nuclear winter' anyone?

From: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/04/23/ 1050777304686.html

US back in nuclear bomb-making business April 24 2003

The United States says it has regained the capability to make nuclear weapons for the first time in 14 years and has resumed production of plutonium parts for bombs.

The Energy Department's announcement on Tuesday marks a symbolic and operational milestone in rebuilding America's nuclear weapons complex, which began a long retrenchment in the late 1980s as the Cold War ended and the toll of environmental damage from bomb production became known.

Under a Bush Administration plan, the Energy Department will begin limited production of plutonium parts for the country's stockpile of nuclear weapons and begin laying plans for a new factory that could produce parts for hundreds of weapons a year.

The Energy Department's previous Rocky Flats site in Colorado was shut down after serious violations of environmental laws and the FBI raided the plant.

Los Angeles Times

I wouldn't lose any sleep worrying about it; even if the questionable assumptions behind Nuclear Winter scenarios prove to be true, it would require an exchange of thousands of nuclear weapons...which is rather unlikely today.