Last year at this time, I was reading a National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) estimate stating that the Life Extension Program (LEP) for the B61 nuclear bomb would cost $3.9 billion, already making it the most expensive nuclear warhead upgrade in U.S. history. By May, 2012 that estimate had ballooned to $6 billion. At today’s Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee hearing, Senator Feinstein revealed that, according to the Pentagon’s Office of Cost Assessment and Program Evaluation, the Life Extension Program for the B61 warhead will cost $10 billion dollars. Amazingly enough, this plan for the B61 LEP was actually supposed to be a moderate compromise. NNSA had originally wanted to do a much more extensive and more expensive refurbishment of the B61.
House Passes Key Anti-Nuclear Terrorism Legislation; Senate Up Next
In case you missed it amidst a rather eventful news day, the House this evening passed by voice vote H.R. 5889, the Nuclear Terrorism Conventions Implementation and Safety of Maritime Navigation Act of 2012.
Review of the SASC Version of the FY 2013 Defense Bill: Nuclear Weapons and Missile Defense
On May 24 the Senate Armed Services Committee unanimously approved its version of the FY 2013 National Defense Authorization Act (S. 3254).
Quote of the Day: “Nuclear Time Warp”
Did House Republicans somehow miss the end of the cold war? At a time when, for the sake of both security and fiscal responsibility, the country should be reducing its nuclear arsenal, the House has approved a defense authorization bill for 2013 that t…
“Resolving Ambiguity: Costing Nuclear Weapons”
Earlier this week I spoke at an event at the Stimson Center highlighting the release of a new report by the Center’s Budgeting for Foreign Affairs and Defense program titled “Resolving Ambiguity: Costing Nuclear Weapons.” The report was authored by defense budget all-star Russell Rumbaugh and his very able partner in crime, Nathan Cohn.
