Among the weapons proposed are an enhanced neutron bomb, capable of destroying deeply buried biological weapons caches, and nuclear bunker busters.

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, has told US diplomats that developing new weapons could encourage other countries to violate the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

"This is extremely serious," said Arjun Makhijani, president of the Washington-based Institute of Energy and Environmental Research. "The appeal to deterrence is a smokescreen. The desire is to develop nuclear weapons that can actually be used. The United States is in danger of being at the leading edge of proliferation."

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