U.S. to spend $1 trillion on nuclear weapons over next decade

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Axios

5 hours ago


It's going to cost nearly $1 trillion to operate, maintain and upgrade America's nuclear arsenal over the next decade — more per year ($95 billion) than what's spent on many federal agencies.

Why it matters: That eye-popping estimate from the Congressional Budget Office is catnip for critics, who argue Washington is spending blindly or that portions of the triad are vestigial.

Driving the news: The combined 2025-34 nuke plans of the Defense and Energy departments amount to $946 billion.

In what have been a few wild days for the nuke-watching world — including India-Pakistan clashes and the U.S. Air Force saying it needs new silos for its already delayed and over-budget Sentinel missiles — the dollar figures jump out.

What they're saying: "The huge expenses tallied in this report were not anticipated at the outset of the nuclear modernization program," said Greg Mello, the director of Los Alamos Study Group, which monitors National Nuclear Security Administration sites and activities.

"There will be no return to the 'heroic mode of production' for nuclear weapons," he added.

"Even if Congress dumped $100 or $200 billion more on nuclear weapons, the system that produces them would not 'jump to the task' for years, if at all."

Read more: https://www.axios.com/2025/05/14/nuke-spending-cbo-report-criticism

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Cut a trillion for services that help keep people alive and healthy in order to pay for things that kill people.

[Irish_Dem]

1. Who gets rich on an arms build up?

[riversedge]

3. correct me if wrong but the USA is the largest producer of weapons! NOT good IMHO. ;;

but only the well off--in the USA will get most of any money IF and when we sell them

NOTHING good about any of that.

[Initech]

7. George Carlin said it best:

"America is the only country in the entire world that mentions rockets and bombs in its' national anthem."

[MarineCombatEngineer]

12. A national treasure gone far too soon.

Here's one of his segments on the NRA.

[Irish_Dem]

17. Yes the US military industrial complex.

[DJ Synikus Makisimus]

18. People/Corporations who give loads of "free speech" to all two parties. (n/t)

[no_hypocrisy]

2. No thank you. I prefer my Medicare and Social Security.

[Silent Type]

4. I'm surprised it's only $100 Billion a year, unfortunately.

[DetroitLegalBeagle]

5. Considering how old much of our nuclear weapons and delivery systems are, I'm surprised its not higher

Much of our stuff was designed back in the 60s and 70s. I don't think we've built a brand new warhead since the 80s or early 90s. Everything we have has been rebuilt from old parts and reused cores.

I'm also kinda surprised we are still sticking with land based icbms. I know they are the fastest reacting leg of the triad, but they are also going to be the first to get wiped out.

[Initech]

6. We got no money to keep the government open, but plenty to blow shit up!

[ananda]

8. Two questions: where will this money come from...

and who will actually get it?

[womanofthehills]

21. Looks like the national lab in Los Alamos

Will be getting some!

Plutonium Pit Production

https://www.lasg.org/press/2024/SFNM_2Oct2024.html

[Wonder Why]

9. How come nobody mentioned that Eloon is in nuclear weapons business?

[EX500rider]

15. How exactly?

The development and maintenance of nuclear weapons is a complex process involving various entities, primarily governmental organizations and private companies under contract, within the Nuclear Security Enterprise (NSE).

Here's a breakdown of who is involved:

1. Governmental Oversight & Direction:
U.S. Department of Energy (DOE): The DOE, through the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), is the primary agency responsible for the nuclear weapons program.
National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA): This semi-autonomous agency within the DOE is specifically tasked with maintaining and modernizing the U.S. nuclear stockpile.
Department of Defense (DoD): The DoD is responsible for the delivery systems (missiles, bombers, submarines) and integrating the nuclear warheads with these systems.

2. Research & Design Laboratories:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL): LANL is a design laboratory involved in the research, design, and development of nuclear weapons.
Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL): LLNL is another design laboratory focused on the safety and reliability of the nuclear explosive package.
Sandia National Laboratories (SNL): SNL focuses on the non-nuclear components of nuclear weapons and overall systems engineering.

3. Production Facilities:
Pantex Plant: This plant is responsible for the assembly, disassembly, and maintenance of nuclear weapons.
Y-12 National Security Complex: Y-12 produces enriched uranium components and is a key facility in the nuclear weapons complex.
Kansas City National Security Campus: This facility manufactures non-nuclear components for nuclear weapons.
Savannah River Site: This site plays a role in tritium production, a key component in nuclear weapons.

4. Private Companies:
Management & Operating (M&O) Contractors: Private companies are contracted to manage and operate the various national laboratories and production facilities.
Defense Contractors: Companies like Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, and Boeing are involved in building and maintaining delivery systems and some weapon components.

In Summary:
While the U.S. government, through the DOE/NNSA, has overall control and responsibility for nuclear weapons, the actual work is carried out by a network of national laboratories, production facilities, and private companies under contract, forming the Nuclear Security Enterprise.

[Wonder Why]

19. Some people just positively, absolutely need this:

Even with this as my signature line:

If you think my comments sound crazy, likely they are sarcasm but sometimes they may just be crazy.

[EX500rider]

22. Don't really read sig lines....and:

....and I've seen people here who were serious that we might blow up the moon and another who thought North Korea must be a workers paradise because "They look so happy in the pictures!" (started reading DU daily in 2005, didn't sign up till years later)

So yes, you might need the sarcasm emoji.

[harun]

23. Probably not the warheads themselves but highly likely involved in the delivery systems.

Look at the size of Starship and how it comes back in to the atmosphere and gets caught by their tower "chopsticks".

First thought that came to mind was that certain parts of the "Defense" establishment would be salivating at the precision and amount of payload that facilitates. Also that they can be produced cheaply and quickly.

[EX500rider]

24. I doubt they care about the landing ability of the Starship as icbms are on a one-way trip

[twodogsbarking]

10. and they don't make me feel, well, safer.

[elocs]

11. I went to grade school in the old "duck and cover" days but in Junior High School

I remember asking my science teacher what they would do if the bomb were dropped when we were in school. He gave me perhaps the most honest answer I ever got from a teacher:
"We' probably send you home and let you die there."

[Montauk6]

13. Well... as long as we're spending it on something really, REALLY useful for once...

Hey, people come and go; nothing says "committed" like an ICBM, and we're practically a month away from Father's Day.

[NoMoreRepugs]

14. Primarily maintenance - minimal upgrades.

[Karasu]

16. We already have enough to end humanity 300 times over or some shit. What, are extraterrestrials invading?

[EX500rider]

20. The older the ICBM's get, the less reliable they get, and maintenance gets harder & more expensive with obsolete parts

They will also lack features more modern weapons will have like stealth & maneuverability, making more likely to not reach targets, thus lessening their deterrence effect.

The US Air Force's Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) force, specifically the Minuteman III has a average age of 34.05 years old, with some individual missiles having been in service for over 40 years.

Most of us don't even trust cars that old.