Nuclear Bombplex 2030 Talking Points

It’s an unnecessary waste of taxpayer money. At the request of Congress, an independent panel of scientific experts recently completed a thorough study of the lifetime of the plutonium pits in our warheads (the cores or “triggers” of nuclear weapons). This panel announced that pits have a lifetime of at least 100 years, more than double the Department of Energy’s (DOE) original estimate of 45 years.

The Bush administration and DOE have argued that Complex 2030 and the revamp of our weapons system is necessary because our weapons were aging and becoming unreliable. This new independent study proves them wrong, and undercuts the need for this complex, which is projected to cost billions of dollars.

It sends the wrong message to the rest of the world. At a time when the international community is working to stop the spread of nuclear weapons in Iran and North Korea, building a new generation of U.S. weapons sends the wrong message. If the U.S. continues down the path of nuclear weapons development, you can be sure that other countries will follow.

It’s based on outdated Cold War thinking. Building up our offensive nuclear capabilities makes no sense when the greatest threat the U.S. faces is from non-state terrorist groups and the proliferation of weapons to other states. Spending billions of dollars on new nuclear weapons will not make America safer and ignores the real dangers we face.

It violates our international commitments and U.S. law. When the U.S. signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the treaty became U.S. law. Under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the U.S. agreed to negotiate in good faith to get rid of nuclear weapons. Complex 2030 diverts attention from the need to begin planning further nuclear reductions and the eventual elimination of our nuclear stockpile.

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			Nuclear Bombplex 2030 Talking Points It’s an unnecessary waste of taxpayer money. At the request of Congress, an independent panel of scientific experts recently completed a thorough study of the lifetime of the plutonium pits in our warheads (the cores or “triggers” of nuclear weapons). This panel announced that pits have a lifetime of at least 100 years, more than double the Department of Energy’s (DOE) original estimate of 45 years. The Bush administration and DOE have argued that Complex 2030 and the revamp of our weapons system is necessary because our weapons were aging and becoming unreliable. This new independent study proves them wrong, and undercuts the need for this complex, which is projected to cost billions of dollars. It sends the wrong message to the rest of the world. At a time when the international community is working to stop the spread of nuclear weapons in Iran and North Korea, building a new generation of U.S. weapons sends the wrong message. If the U.S. continues down the path of nuclear weapons development, you can be sure that other countries will follow. It’s based on outdated Cold War thinking. Building up our offensive nuclear capabilities makes no sense when the greatest threat the U.S. faces is from non-state terrorist groups and the proliferation of weapons to other states. Spending billions of dollars on new nuclear weapons will not make America safer and ignores the real dangers we face. It violates our international commitments and U.S. law. When the U.S. signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the treaty became U.S. law. Under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the U.S. agreed to negotiate in good faith to get rid of nuclear weapons. Complex 2030 diverts attention from the need to begin planning further nuclear reductions and the eventual elimination of our nuclear stockpile. This page is currently under construction.