Publication

This report provides projections for US spending on its maintenance of its nuclear arsenal up to 2040 and suggests that this will probably cost over one trillion USD. It says that this level of spending, as a percentage of the defense budget, will peak at levels comparable to the Reagan-era build-up of nuclear forces. The authors also talk about the challenges that a lack of authoritative data on the costs of this maintenance causes for the US nuclear deterrent and recommend that to help overcome them, US Congress should require the Office of Management and Budget and Departments of Defense and Energy to produce an annual nuclear deterrence budget.