How much does the United States spend on nuclear weapons? Seems like a simple question that the agency charged with tending our nuclear arsenal should be able to answer. In fact, our government spends tens of billions of dollars spread across dozens of programs, offices, and research centers in 13 different agencies to support nuclear weapons programs. And no one has ever added it all up.

Now, a group of budget watchers (including TCS) has combed and compiled federal budget documents to figure out just how much these nukes cost us. The result is the Comprehensive Nuclear Security Budget , released this week by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. The study reveals the U.S. spends more than $52 billion on nuclear weapons and related programs, not including those hidden in the classified budget. More than half that amount–$29 billion—goes toward maintaining thousands of nuclear weapons. Another 38 percent goes to missile and air defense, 10 percent to nonproliferation, and16 percent pays for cleaning up after the nuclear programs of the past.

This unfocused approach, endemic to national security spending, hobbles transparency and accountability by depriving budgeters of any fiscal perspective. It also wastes money by creating duplicative and irrelevant programs. Hopefully Congress will follow the report’s recommendation to fully document nuclear weapons-related spending at budget time each year . It’s hard to plan for the future when you aren’t keeping track of your expenses.

For more information, contact Laura Peterson.

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