"A Death in the Nuclear Family"

On the radar: Farewell sweet B53; The full costs of nuclear weapons; Safety first for nuke budgets; Useful talks with North Korea; What not to cut; and Remembering the MX shell game.

October 26, 2011 | Edited by Benjamin Loehrke and Mary Kaszynski

B53 shuffles off its mortal coil - “The world's biggest nuclear weapon -- the infamous minivan-sized megaton B53 -- died Tuesday, of old age. The five-ton bomb was about 50 years old,” writes TIME’s Mark Thompson. NNSA dismantled the last of the B53 bombs at its Pantex plant, offering a YouTube Eulogy.

-- “It apparently only saw action in 1964's Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb,” writes Thompson.

--”The B53 is survived by thousands of newer, smaller nuclear weapons...Services were private. The family requests that instead of flowers, contributions honoring the life of the B-53 be made either to the Air Force Association or the Ploughshares Fund,” writes Thompson. http://owl.li/79xU8

The full costs of nuclear weapons - “The B53, given the sheer size and hazard of the thing, was unusually problematic [and expensive to dismantle],” writes Jeff Lewis. However, when building nuclear bombs and facilities, policymakers only plan for construction costs, notes Lewis. This ignores the substantial “back-end” costs of dismantlement.

--“It is irresponsible for policymakers to simply pay for the construction of nuclear weapons and related facilities, while leaving dismantlement and clean-up costs to future generations,” writes Lewis. “Whether the Administration builds new weapons or new facilities — future appropriations should include funds set aside to pay for dismantlement and clean-up.” http://owl.li/79xYX

Welcome to Early Warning - Subscribe to our morning email or follow us on twitter.

Smart nuclear budget priorities - The Senate appropriators set the right national security priorities in their FY12 bill, the administration said in a letter to Congress. The bill cuts NNSA’s weapons activities by $440 million but fully funds nonproliferation efforts. Kingston Reif gives us the details. http://owl.li/79y7W

Useful talks with North Korea - No breakthrough resulted from two days of talks between the U.S. and North Korea nuclear envoys, but the meeting was “very useful,” Amb. Stephen Bosworth said. “We narrowed differences on several points and explored our differences on other points. We came to the conclusion that we will need more time and more discussion to reach agreement.”

--"I am confident that with continued effort on both sides we can reach a reasonable basis of departure for formal negotiations for a return to the six-party process," Bosworth added. Stephanie Nebehay for Reuters. http://owl.li/79ykF

Not so smart cuts - “Congress, in its cost-cutting mood, is taking money away from several programs that help to detect and acquire radioactive material before it can be stolen and sold,” writes Paul McLeary in Aviation Week. They’re looking for savings in the wrong place: “These programs aren’t free, but they are cost-effective compared to the consequences of what might happen without them.” http://owl.li/79y4J

About those Chinese tunnels - “No one remembers the US seriously considering building 23 silos for each MX missile? owl.li/78pZn” tweets James Acton for @Carnegienpp.