Manufacturing Nuclear Weapon Pits, and More from CRS
A critical assessment of the feasibility of reaching the Department of Defense’s goal of producing 80 plutonium pits (or triggers) for nuclear weapons was prepared by the Congressional Research Service. It provides new analysis of the space and material requirements needed to achieve the declared goal. See Manufacturing Nuclear Weapon “Pits”: A Decisionmaking Approach for Congress, August 15, 2014.
Other new or updated CRS reports obtained by Secrecy News include the following.
The U.S. Military Presence in Okinawa and the Futenma Base Controversy, August 14, 2014
India’s New Government and Implications for U.S. Interests, August 7, 2014
Guatemala: Political, Security, and Socio-Economic Conditions and U.S. Relations, updated August 7, 2014
Small Refineries and Oil Field Processors: Opportunities and Challenges, August 11, 2014
Telemarketing Regulation: National and State Do Not Call Registries, August 14, 2014
Immigration Policies and Issues on Health-Related Grounds for Exclusion, updated August 13, 2014
Empowering U.S. allies to do more so Washington can do and spend less sounds attractive. But enabling, or looking the other way at the spread of nuclear weapons is not in America’s interests anymore today than it was in the 20th century.
As long as nuclear weapons exist, nuclear war remains possible. The Nuclear Information Project provides transparency of global nuclear arsenals through open source analysis. It is through this data that policy makers can call for informed policy change.
FAS estimates that the United States maintains a stockpile of approximately 3,700 warheads, about 1,700 of which are deployed.
The Department of Defense has finally released the 2024 version of the China Military Power Report.