Congress cut off funding for the study last year but the administration is requesting 8.5 million dollars in 2006 to resume it and says it will need an extra 14 million dollars to complete it in 2007.

Called Robust Nuclear Earth-Pentrator, the study would examine whether a nuclear weapon can be designed to bore through concrete or rock and then detonate.

Rumsfeld said the United States has no conventional capability for attacking deeply buried targets.

"The only option we currently have is to use a vastly overpowered nonconventional weapon. That isn't desirable," he told a Senate Committee.

The move comes amid growing US concerns that North Korea and Iran are pursuing clandestine nuclear weapons programs.

Rumsfeld said countries can now "dig holes through rock twice the height of a basketball net and the full length of a basketball court" in a single day with equipment that is widely available.

"People are putting things underground in every rogue state, in countries that are engaged in activities that are not compatible with civilized societies," he said.

"And it seems to me that the idea of proceeding with this study is just eminently sensible. And anyone would look back five years from now, if we failed to take a responsible step like that, and feel we'd made a mistake," he said.

All rights reserved. © 2005 Agence France-Presse. Sections of the information displayed on this page (dispatches, photographs, logos) are protected by intellectual property rights owned by Agence France-Presse. As a consequence, you may not copy, reproduce, modify, transmit, publish, display or in any way commercially exploit any of the content of this section without the prior written consent of Agence France-Presse.

Related Links
TerraDaily
Search TerraDaily
Subscribe To TerraDaily Express