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Nuclear-related programs cost US 52 bln dollars in 2008: report

Nuclear-related programs cost US 52 bln dollars in 2008: report 13 Jan 09 WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States spent at least 52 billion dollars on nuclear-related programs last year, most of it to maintain and refurbish its arsenal of nuclear weapons, a report said Monday.The report by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace said the estimate was pieced together from publicly available documents because the government does not track overall spending on nuclear-related programs.
“Total appropriations for nuclear weapons and weapons-related programs in fiscal year 2008 were at least 52.4 billion dollars, according to the best available data,” the report said.It said the Defense Department’s costs of deploying and maintaining nuclear weapons was a partial estimate, and therefore may be too low.Even so, the report said, it was far larger than most officials would acknowledge.”About 55.5 percent (29.1 billion dollars) of all nuclear expenses go toward upgrading, operating, and sustaining the US nuclear arsenal,” the report said.”These costs will increase significantly if the DOE’s (Department of Energy’s) proposals to rebuild the nuclear weapons production complex and resume the production of nuclear weapons are approved and funded,” it said…….

………..”sends a message to the rest of the world that the United States considers preserving and enhancing its nuclear options more important than preventing nuclear proliferation.”

AFP: Nuclear-related programs cost US 52 bln dollars in 2008: report

January 13, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized | antinuclear, nuclear, radioactive, uranium