Washington, D.C. – President George W. Bush tomorrow is expected to announce a sizable reduction of the U.S. nuclear weapons arsenal. A reduction to 2,500 nuclear warheads would save taxpayers billions without affecting national security, according to Taxpayers for Common Sense, a national budget watchdog organization.

“The U.S. nuclear stockpile is an expensive relic of a dead war,” said Alise Frye, Director of the National Security Project at Taxpayers for Common Sense. “Reducing the fiscal burden of the stockpile is good for our national security and will free up resources for other defense priorities.”

Taxpayers have been maintaining unnecessary numbers of nuclear weapons at a high cost of about $27 billion a year. The cost figure doesn’t reflect the indirect costs related to the upkeep, stability, security and the potential
use of the nation’s nuclear weapon arsenal.

Current proposals to reduce the nuclear weapons arsenal could save between $920 million to $8.3 billion in budgetary authority in the next 10 years, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

Even with this cost savings, some members of Congress may not be supportive of the nuclear arsenal reductions without major concessions that could cost taxpayers more than the potential savings. On the table could be billions of dollars in research and development efforts for new nuclear weapons and building more facilities to increase nuclear weapon production capabilities.

“The Pentagon has stated it can defend the U.S. with 2,500 nuclear warheads, not the nearly 10,000 it has now. A smaller arsenal will save taxpayer money and will better reflect the defense needs of the twenty-first
century,” concluded Frye.

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