Prepared by Candice DeNardi Updated by Bridget Nolan and Kingston Reif What is a Nuclear Weapon? A nuclear weapon is a device which rapidly releases nuclear energy, either through fission (as in the bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki) or a combination fission and fusion (as in a thermonuclear or hydrogen bomb). How do Nuclear […]
A Review of the House Version of the Fiscal Year 2013 Defense Authorization Bill: Nuclear Weapons and Missile Defense
by Kingston Reif On May 16 the House approved the FY 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (H.R. 4310) by a vote of 299-120. The bill provides $554 billion for national defense (function 050). This is an increase of approximately $4 billion above the President’s request and $8 billion above the Budget Control Act’s FY 2013 […]
An Analysis of the Fiscal Year 2012 Defense Authorization Conference Report
by Laicie Heeley and Kingston Reif The conference report on the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 provides $530 billion for the Pentagon’s base budget, as well as $116 billion for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and $17 billion for nuclear weapons-related spending at the Department of Energy. The total bill, at $662 […]
New START and Verification
Overview New START contains an updated, streamlined, and more cost-effective system of verification procedures that are tailored to the treaty’s limits, reflect the realities of the current U.S. and Russian arsenals, and, most importantly, will allow the U.S. to effectively verify Russia’s compliance with the treaty. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Admiral Mike […]
Fact Sheet: 2010 Nuclear Posture Review
by Kingston Reif BACKGROUND The Fiscal Year 2008 National Defense Authorization Act mandated the U.S. Department of Defense to undertake a Nuclear Posture Review, a comprehensive review of U.S. nuclear weapons strategy and policy for the next five to ten years. The review, which began in the Spring of 2009, was originally scheduled to be […]
