US Spends $8 Billion to Modernize Nuclear Weapons

The U.S. wants to modernize their nuclear weapons. The plan, projected to be completed by 2016, has a budget of nearly $8 billion, as disclosed by John Harvey, the principal deputy assistant to the Secretary of Defense for nuclear and chemical and biological Defense Programs.

At the Nuclear Deterrence Summit on Thursday, Harvey, who is responsible for the ABC Program at the Pentagon, said that “after more than a decade of serious underfunding the nuclear weapons enterprise, the president put forward budget requests in [fiscal 2011] and [fiscal 2012] that included substantial new investments for this mission. We’ve had a very high level of support within the administration for getting these investments funded and sustained by Congress.”

Accordingly, from 2011 to 2016 Harvey expects to dedicate a total of $7.9 billion to this purpose. It took the Pentagon three years to gain the funding, and the fact that the money was eventually allotted is thanks to Congress.

With Congress’ ratification of the most recent nuclear disarmament pact with Russia (START III), the U.S. administration effectively requires further substantial financing for nuclear weapons infrastructure. These conditions are included in the resolution.