The Department of Energy has nuclear weapons facilities in seven states including three laboratories, five component fabrication or materials production plants, one assembly and disassembly site, a geologic waste repository, and one testing facility.
A new report from the Congressional Research Service summarizes operations at each of the sites. See The U.S. Nuclear Weapons Complex: Overview of Department of Energy Sites, September 6, 2018.
Other new and updated reports from the Congressional Research Service include the following.
FY2019 Appropriations for the Department of Energy, CRS Insight, updated September 12, 2018
Efforts to Preserve Economic Benefits of the Iran Nuclear Deal, CRS In Focus, updated September 7, 2018
The Nordic Countries and U.S. Relations, CRS In Focus, updated September 13, 2018
Labor Enforcement Issues in U.S. Free Trade Agreements, CRS In Focus, September 7, 2018
U.S.-Taiwan Trade Relations, CRS In Focus, updated September 11, 2018
Georgia: Background and U.S. Policy, September 5, 2018
Costs of Government Interventions in Response to the Financial Crisis: A Retrospective, updated September 12, 2018
Tax Policy and Disaster Recovery, CRS In Focus, updated September 11, 2018
National Flood Insurance Program Borrowing Authority, CRS Insight, updated September 10, 2018
The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), Reinsurance, and Catastrophe Bonds, CRS Insight, September 11, 2018
Senate Confirmation Votes on U.S. Supreme Court Nominations: Overview, CRS Insight, September 13, 2018
Craft Alcoholic Beverage Industry: Overview and Regulation, CRS In Focus, September 7, 2018
3D-Printed Guns: An Overview of Recent Legal Developments, CRS Legal Sidebar, September 11, 2018
Satellite imagery of RAF Lakenheath reveals new construction of a security perimeter around ten protective aircraft shelters in the designated nuclear area, the latest measure in a series of upgrades as the base prepares for the ability to store U.S. nuclear weapons.
It will take consistent leadership and action to navigate the complex dangers in the region and to avoid what many analysts considered to be an increasingly possible outcome, a nuclear conflict in East Asia.
Getting into a shutdown is the easy part, getting out is much harder. Both sides will be looking to pin responsibility on each other, and the court of public opinion will have a major role to play as to who has the most leverage for getting us out.
How the United States responds to China’s nuclear buildup will shape the global nuclear balance for the rest of the century.