WASHINGTON, March 10: Top US officials on Sunday defended a secret nuclear policy review that discusses contingency plans for the use of nuclear weapons against China, North Korea and hostile Middle Eastern states.

Secretary of State Colin Powell and White House national security advisor Condoleezza Rice insisted that the policy review contained no change in US nuclear targeting policy.

“Right now, today, not a single nation on the face of the earth is being targeted by an American nuclear weapon on a day-to-day basis,” said Powell.

“So this is prudent military planning and it is the kind of planning I think the American people would expect.”

According to portions of the classified Nuclear Policy Review leaked to the media, the White House wants to switch the emphasis of potential nuclear use from Russia to China, North Korea, Iran, Libya and Syria.

It also addresses the possible need for resumption of nuclear weapons testing and the development of new nuclear weapons.

Powell, speaking on the CBS talk show “Face the Nation,” denied any plans for either renewed testing or new weapons development. “We are not developing brand new nuclear weapons and we are not planning to undergo any testing,” he said.

The Nuclear Policy Review presented to Congress in January should surprise no one, Rice told NBC’s “Meet the Press” programme.

“No one should be surprised that the US worries about the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction ... and that it has been longstanding American policy that the president reserves his options on determining how to respond should some state use weapons of mass destruction,” she said.—AFP