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US to spend $1 trillion to upgrade nuclear arsenal Printer friendly page Print This
By Staff Writers, Telesur
Telesur
Tuesday, Sep 23, 2014

Protestors demand a nuclear-free world (Source: Reuters)

The U.S. is set to build 12 new missile submarines and 100 new bombers.

The U.S. will spend US$1 trillion to revitalize and expand its aging nuclear arsenal over the coming three decades, the New York Times has reported.

A new plant in Kansas City will be dedicated to modernize “the aging weapons that the United States can fire from missiles, bombers and submarines,” it claims adding that the plant is part of ''wave of atomic revitalization that includes plans for a new generation of weapon carriers.”

The U.S. is set to build 12 new missile submarines, up to 100 new bombers, 400 land-based missiles in addition to upgrades to eight major plants and laboratories, the Times reported on Tuesday.

Meanwhile the budget for making nuclear materials more secure has been reduced.

The move comes despite Obama's public support for a ''nuclear-free world,'' one of the key issues for which the president won the Nobel Peace prize.

Instead of working towards reducing nuclear weapons ''the Obama administration is engaging in extensive atomic rebuilding while getting only modest arms reductions in return because of political deals and geopolitical crises,'' says the New York Times report.

According to a report by the Washington-based Government Accountability Office, 21 major upgrades to nuclear facilities have already been approved under Obama.

Gary Samore, a former top nuclear adviser to Obama, said the Ukraine crisis has prompted the U.S. to expand its nuclear capabilities. Tension with Russia, ''has made any measure to reduce the stockpile unilaterally politically impossible.''

The U.S. and the Russian Federation have previously agreed to reduce their tactical nukes. The deal is unlikely to completely succeed because of the tension between the nations.

Hawks in the U.S. Congress believe believe that the new plan will put the United States in a ''stronger position if a new arms race breaks out'', said the New York Times report, adding the congressmen hope the U.S. nuclear arsenal can “expand rapidly” in the future.

In an editorial on Tuesday the newspaper called the new turn in nuclear policy ''shortsighted and disappointing.'' It pointed out the new policy has passed with little public debate.

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