A new Congressional Budget Office report says the U.S. government will need to spend $400 billion between fiscal years 2017 and 2026 to operate, maintain and update the country’s nuclear weapons.CBO said Tuesday the figure represents a $52 billion or 15 percent increase from the agency’s 2015 estimate of $348 billion for FY 2015 to FY 2024 and seeks to reflect the FY 2017 budget requests by the departments of Defense and Energy to replace and update nuclear delivery systems and weapons.
CBO estimates $344 billion in costs for nuclear forces, while the remaining $56 billion intends to reflect the agency’s estimate of cost growth beyond the planned funding levels for nuclear programs.
Of the $344 billion, CBO projects $189 billion to be spent on DoD’s long-range bombers, ballistic missile submarines, intercontinental ballistic missiles and other strategic delivery systems and weapons and $9 billion in spending on tactical delivery platforms and weapons over a period of 10 years.
The report also noted that DOE’s laboratories and facilities for nuclear weapon production are projected to cost approximately $87 billion over a decade.
CBO also estimates $58 billion in costs over 10 years for DoD’s nuclear command, control and communications systems as well as early-warning platforms.
