The Future of the U.S. Nuclear Arsenal and the Budget

For Immediate Release: January 26, 2012

Media Contacts: Daryl G. Kimball, Exec. Director, 202-463-8270, ext. 107;
Tom Z. Collina, Research Director, ACA, 202-463- 8270, ext. 104.

(Washington, D.C.) At 2 p.m. today, the Pentagon is scheduled to release major budget decisions stemming from its Jan. 5 strategic guidance review, which states that: "It is possible that our deterrence goals can be achieved with a smaller nuclear force, which would reduce the number of nuclear weapons in our inventory as well as their role in U.S. national security strategy."

The Arms Control Association hosted a briefing Jan. 20 on the future of the U.S. nuclear arsenal with Morton Halperin of the Open Society Institute, Hans Kristensen of the Federation of American Scientists, and Amy Woolf of the Congressional Research Service. The event explored the Obama administration's review of nuclear policy, the cost of strategic nuclear forces, and options for reducing nuclear weapons spending. The transcript for that event can be found here.

For additional relevant background information on U.S. nuclear policy and nuclear weapons spending, see:

"Reviewing Nuclear Guidance: Putting Obama's Words Into Action," by Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists, in the November issue of Arms Control Today.

"Modernizing the Triad on a Tight Budget," by Amy F. Woolf, specialist in nuclear weapons policy at the Congressional Research Service, in the Jan./Feb. issue of Arms Control Today.

"How Obama can slash defense budget: Cut unnecessary nuclear weapons programs," by Daryl G. Kimball and Tom Z. Collina of ACA, in the Jan. 19 Christian Science Monitor.

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The Arms Control Association (ACA) is an independent nongovernmental organization dedicated to addressing the challenges posed by the world's most dangerous weapons.