The Cost Of Cleaning Sites That Helped Build America's Nuclear Weapons Program And Conducting Waste Management Is $541 Billion

Atomic Bulletin Of Scientists: Yesterday is tomorrow: estimating the full cost of a nuclear buildup

A recent Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimate puts the bill for modernization of the nuclear weapons complex and arsenal at $1.2 trillion over 30 years. This new estimate—a significant increase over previous suggestions of the cost for rebuilding the US triad of land, submarine, and bomber-based nuclear forces—has drawn much comment. But the CBO estimate avoids including funds for environmental restoration and waste management of the Energy Department’s nuclear weapons complex—funding that is also in the Congressional Atomic Defense Activities Account that supports the department’s nuclear weapons activities. If these legacy costs are included, then the total price tag goes to $1.74 trillion over three decades.

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WNU Editor: I am willing to bet that this $541 billion cost is at the low end on how much this entire clean-up will cost.

Report: US Nuclear Weapons In Turkey Are At Risk Of Seizure By Terrorists Or Hostile Forces

File photo of U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II fighter jets are pictured at Incirlik airbase in Adana. Reuters

IBTimes: 50 US nuclear weapons at Turkish base near Syrian border at risk of being stolen by terrorists

A Washington think-tank has said amid growing security instability in Turkey that US nukes may be at risk.

Fifty US nuclear weapons stored at a Turkish airbase at Incirlik are at risk of being stolen by terrorists, a Washington-based think-tank has said in the wake of Turkey's attempted coup in July.

The report has claimed that the dozens of nuclear weapons held some 110km from the Syrian border could be compromised, putting the US's nuclear assets at risk.

It said leaving them at the base, which is a crucial strategic point for coalition forces carrying out airstrikes against Isis, was "a roll of the dice" after the facility's Turkish commander was arrested for his suspected involvement in attempting to overthrow the country's leading AKP party.

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WNU Editor: The Stimson report is here .... US Nuclear Weapons in Turkey at Risk of Seizure by Terrorists, Hostile Forces (Stimson).

More News On A Washington Think-Tank's Report That  US Nuclear Weapons In Turkey Are At Risk Of Seizure By Terrorists Or Hostile Forces

US Turkey Airbase Nukes At Risk of Seizure From 'Terrorists': Report -- Newsweek
US nukes at Turkey base at risk of seizure -- AFP
Report: 'Terrorists' could seize US nuclear weapons from Turkish base -- Jerusalem Post
US nukes in Turkey risk seizure by 'terrorists or other hostile forces': report -- i24news
US nukes in Turkey vulnerable to ‘terrorists & other hostile forces’ – think tank -- RT
Report Questions Necessity of Nuclear Weapons in Europe -- Defense News

Are Critical U.S. Nuclear Sites Secured?

An aerial view of the Y-12 Plant in Oak Ridge.(REUTERS / Handout)

U.S. Nuke Sites Dismantled Security to Save Money, Report Warns -- Washington Free Beacon

Problems persist two years after major security breach

The organization responsible for securing America’s highly sensitive nuclear sites has been suffering from a “chaotic” and “dysfunctional” security policy that has endangered the country’s nuclear sites and left them vulnerable to attack, according to a new report by the government’s watchdog group.

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which is tasked with managing the nation’s nuclear stockpile and securing classified research sites, has “increased risks and reduced security” over the past several years in a bid to reduce overhead costs, according to a new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report.

Security vulnerabilities at these NNSA sites still persist two years after a major breach at one of its top facilities in Tennessee. The administration’s own officials have described the security policy as “chaotic” and “dysfunctional,” according to the report.

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My comment: You know you have a security problem when this happens .... Nun shuts down the only weapons-grade uranium facility in US -- RT

Pictures Reveal America’s ‘Deteriorating’ Nuclear Weapons Infrastructure

America’s ‘Deteriorating’ Nuclear Weapons Infrastructure -- Weekly Standard

As Washington wrangles over the size of the federal budget in a time of fiscal austerity, Congress is debating whether to hold President Obama to his promise of adequately funding the modernization of America’s nuclear arsenal and infrastructure in exchange for the Senate’s passage of the controversial New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START) with the Russia in December 2010. The debate has pit liberal lawmakers like Congressman Edward Markey (D, Mass.), who advocate global nuclear disarmament, against Congressman Michael Turner (R, Ohio) and other national security stalwarts, who support more investment in the U.S. nuclear deterrent.

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My Comment: A picture says a thousand words (scroll down this pdf document for the pics) .... and I hope that Congressman Edward Markey (D, Mass.) will take a tour of America's nuclear infrastructure.

Cutbacks At Los Alamos Will Impact Future U.S. Nuclear Weapons Research And Development

Norris E. Bradbury, who was director of the lab from 1945 to 1970, with the world's first nuclear explosive device, nicknamed "The Gadget." Los Alamos National Laboratory

Los Alamos Residents Brace for Layoffs at Lab -- New York Times

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. — Sharon Stover remembers the stories her mother used to tell about what life was like when Los Alamos National Laboratory first opened during World War II.

The jobs that flooded this impoverished swath of northern New Mexico, the government men who made the small hilltop town their home, the prideful sense that the secret work being done here would surely keep America’s enemies at bay.

Nearly 70 years later, a cloud of uncertainty has drifted in over the hallowed national laboratory, which helped give birth to the Manhattan Project and has been a crucible of the nation’s nuclear weapons research and development.

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My Comment: Los Alamos has always been a symbol of America's predominance in nuclear research and nuclear weapons development. But while many are applauding this development, these cutbacks are now also becoming another symbol of America's decline and shift in priorities.

Map Shows Nuclear Material Spread Across United States

(Mother Jones)

Where The Nukes Are: Map Shows Nuclear Material Spread Across United States -- The Lookout/Yahoo News

The Cold War ended more than two decades ago. But the United States still has more than 5,000 atomic warheads scattered around the country or on submarines around the world. And President Obama's push for a nuclear-weapons-free world is moving at a frustrating, glacial pace.

More than likely, there's highly radioactive nuclear material not too far from you right now. The hair-raising map above, compiled by Mother Jones magazine using data from the Defense Department and nuclear watchdog groups, lets you see just where those warheads are--while also showing civilian nuclear facilities, as well as the far-flung labs and factories that make up the American weapons complex. Our scattered system for making and storing weapons is needlessly expensive and dangerous, watchdog groups have said.

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WNU Editor: You can view a full screen version of the map here.

How Safe Is A Nuclear Missile Facility?

Photo: Air Force forces practice a security intervention on a visiting PM editor. Jonathan Torgovnik

Behind The Scenes At A Nuclear Alert Facility -- Popular Mechanics

Popular Mechanics' Senior Editor Joe Pappalardo has some strange experiences at a U.S. nuclear missile base.

Great Falls, Mont.—Like most Americans, the citizens of Great Falls don't spend much time thinking about the nuclear missiles resting in silos dug into the surrounding high plains and mountains. Residents here seem more protective of their favorite trout streams and more worried about bears than about the local arsenal of nuclear weapons. "They've been here more than 50 years," says one taxi driver. "So what's the big deal?"

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My Comment: Is this too much security .... probably. Is it necessary .... well .... we are talking about nuclear weapons.

Everyone Is To Be Blamed For Leak Of U.S. Nuclear Data .... But No One will Be Punished

US nuclear sites (Image from Wikimedia)

U.S. Agencies Faulted By GAO For Leak Of Nuclear Data -- Washington Post

Five government agencies, the National Security Council and two congressional offices all share blame for the inadvertent publication of sensitive information regarding hundreds of civilian nuclear sites, government watchdogs concluded Wednesday.

Though the release of the information does not appear to have jeopardized national security, government officials agree that it should not have been published in June on the Web site of the Government Printing Office, the Government Accountability Office reported.

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My Comment: The key sentence in this report is the following ....

Experts said the incident proves yet again that the government needs to reform how it handles sensitive information.

But I am betting that nothing is going to be done .... and we will have a repeat of the same story in the near future.

U.S. Releases Secret Nuclear List Accidentally

US nuclear sites (Image from Wikimedia)

From MSNBC:

Report gives details about hundreds of the nation's nuclear sites, programs

The federal government mistakenly made public a 266-page report, its pages marked “highly confidential,” that gives detailed information about hundreds of the nation’s civilian nuclear sites and programs, including maps showing the precise locations of stockpiles of fuel for nuclear weapons.

The publication of the document was revealed Monday in an on-line newsletter devoted to issues of federal secrecy. That publicity set off a debate among nuclear experts about what dangers, if any, the disclosures posed. It also prompted a flurry of investigations in Washington into why the document was made public.

On Tuesday evening, after inquiries from The New York Times, the document was withdrawn from a Government Printing Office Web site.

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My Comment: As I had mentioned yesterday, people should be fired. But in my research for this story, I was surprise to learn that numerous installations are already listed under numerous web sites. Even Wikipedia has a few sites listed.

U.S. Releases Secret List of Nuclear Sites Accidentally

From The New York Times:

The federal government mistakenly made public a 266-page report, its pages marked “highly confidential,” that gives detailed information about hundreds of the nation’s civilian nuclear sites and programs, including maps showing the precise locations of stockpiles of fuel for nuclear weapons.

The publication of the document was revealed Monday in an online newsletter devoted to issues of federal secrecy. That set off a debate among nuclear experts about what dangers, if any, the disclosures posed. It also prompted a flurry of investigations in Washington into why the document had been made public.

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My Comment: People should be fired for this.