WASHINGTON, May 12: The US House of Representatives has urged President George W. Bush to seek access to a Russian nuclear test site in the Arctic, amid reports the Russians were preparing to resume nuclear testing there.

The appeal is contained in an amendment to a 383-billion-dollar defense authorization bill that was approved by the lower chamber on Friday.

The amendment, introduced by Republican Congressman Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania, passed by a vote of 362-53 on the same day as the main bill.

It also gives Russian scientists equal access to the US nuclear test site in Nevada and calls for joint monitoring nuclear materials in each other’s hands.

But the amendment also lifts restrictions on the ability of the United States to conduct research and development of low-yield bunker-busting nuclear weapons that could be used to destroy underground factories involved in production of weapons of mass destruction.

“Without research and development in bunker-busting capabilities, America’s only option in a world of chemical and biological weapons is to focus on responding to an attack, rather than preventing one,” Weldon said in a statement.

The Bush administration has accused Iraq, Iran, North Korea and some other countries of trying to boost their arsenals of weapons of mass destruction.

According to The New York Times, the amendment was prompted by a recent intelligences briefing in Congress, which featured new data indicating that Russia was preparing to resume nuclear tests on the island of Novaya Zemlya.

The information was contained in a report by the Joint Atomic Energy Intelligence Committee, a panel that collects the views of many federal agencies on nuclear issues, the paper reported Sunday.

The assessment indicated that recent activities on the Russian island above the Arctic Circle matched a known Russian pattern of preparation for nuclear tests, said The Times.

The Central Intelligence Agency and the White House refused to confirm or deny the report, with a White House official telling AFP, “We don’t discuss intelligence matters.”

The report comes less that two weeks before US President George W. Bush was to fly to Moscow for a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Weldon said his amendment allows to handle the situation in a non-confrontational matter while “opening up the transparency between the American and the Russian nuclear program.”—AFP