Nuclear Weapons Spending, Blockchain, & More from CRS
The Trump Administration requested $11.02 billion for maintenance and refurbishment of nuclear weapons in the coming year. This represents a 19% increase over the amount appropriated in FY2017.
Recent and proposed nuclear weapons-related spending is detailed by Amy F. Woolf of the Congressional Research Service in Energy and Water Development Appropriations: Nuclear Weapons Activities, February 27, 2018.
Another new CRS report discusses blockchain, the technology that underlies cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Blockchain provides a way to securely record transactions of various types. “Despite public intrigue and excitement around the technology, questions still surround what it is, what it does, how it can be used, and its tradeoffs.”
“This report explains the technologies which underpin blockchain, how blockchain works, potential applications for blockchain, concerns with it, and potential considerations for Congress.” See Blockchain: Background and Policy Issues, February 28, 2018.
Other recent reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following.
Defense Spending Under an Interim Continuing Resolution: In Brief, updated February 23, 2018
Armed Conflict in Syria: Overview and U.S. Response, updated February 27, 2018
U.S. Foreign Aid to Israel, updated February 26, 2018
Federal Civil Aviation Programs: In Brief, updated February 27, 2018
Health Care for Dependents and Survivors of Veterans, updated February 26, 2018
Joint Light Tactical Vehicle (JLTV): Background and Issues for Congress, updated February 27, 2018
The European Union: Questions and Answers, updated February 23, 2018
The SIPRI chapter describes the nuclear weapon modernization programs underway in each nuclear-armed state and provides estimates for how many nuclear warheads each country possesses.
FAS researchers Hans Kristensen and Matt Korda with the Nuclear Information Project write in the new SIPRI Yearbook 2024, released today.
The total number of U.S. nuclear warheads are now estimated to include 1,770 deployed warheads, 1,938 reserved for operational forces. An additional 1,336 retired warheads are awaiting dismantlement, for a total inventory of 5,044 warheads.
A military depot in central Belarus has recently been upgraded with additional security perimeters and an access point that indicate it could be intended for housing Russian nuclear warheads for Belarus’ Russia-supplied Iskander missile launchers.