The cost of the US nuclear arsenal over the next 30 years will be over $1.2tn, even before any new weapons ordered by the Trump administration, and is unlikely to be affordable without cuts elsewhere in the defence budget, according to a independent congressional report. The CBO report warns that such new capabilities would increase the total bill for the US arsenal yet further. “If these plans reach fruition, it would be the largest nuclear build-up since the Reagan administration. This is not affordable,” said Stephen Schwartz, an independent nuclear analyst and editor of the book, Atomic Audit: The Costs and Consequences of US Nuclear Weapons Since 1940. It is the first comprehensive costing of the US nuclear weapons programme.

Source: The Guardian October 31, 2017 22:18 UTC