Nuclear Security Spending: Assessing Costs, Examining Priorities Stephen I. Schwartz, Deepti Choubey

The United States spent over $52 billion on nuclear weapons and related programs in fiscal year 2008, but only 10 percent of that went toward preventing a nuclear attack and slowing the proliferation of nuclear weapons and technology. That is the main finding of Nuclear Security Spending: Assessing Costs, Examining Priorities, a new study that uses publicly available documents and extensive interviews with government officials and experts to calculate the comprehensive U.S. nuclear security "budget." The United States has never tracked nuclear weapon-related spending comprehensively, hindering effective oversight and public understanding of the government's nuclear priorities.