On the radar: Methodology and nuke budget estimates; The necessary budget debate; Nukes without a purpose; CBI sanctions proposed; Evangelicals for elimination; Guns, butter and job creation; nuclear consolidation; China’s tunnels, again; $3 billion for UK nuclear complex; and Los Alamos’ money pit.

November 30, 2011 | Edited by Benjamin Loehrke and Mary Kaszynski

Checking nuclear budgets - The debate is growing over how much the government spends on nuclear weapons. Ploughshares Fund projects that the US could spend $700 billion on nuclear weapons and related programs over the next 10 years. Glenn Kessler at The Washington Post took issue with the accuracy of the estimate, its methodology and the way it has been used in public debates.

--”Given the uncertainty of the figures, Ploughshares should consider providing a range of numbers and perhaps more clearly segregating the cost of nuclear weapons from the cost of related programs. The numbers are big enough that they don’t need to be exaggerated,” Kessler writes. http://owl.li/7JX6H

A Credible Number, a Needed Debate - “We continue to believe that $700 billion in total expenditures over the next decade is the most reasonable reflection of the current planned government spending on nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons-related programs,” writes Joe Cirincione.

--”These disagreements are understandable. Because the government keeps so much of its budget hidden from the public,” writes Cirincione. “But it needs to be a transparent debate....It is not acceptable for the government to provide overall figures without explaining what is included in their estimates.”

--”In a time of austerity, we cannot afford to be spending billions of dollars on weapons that our nation no longer needs. We urge the Administration to release firm figures letting taxpayers know just how much they are spending on nuclear weapons and related programs. But most importantly, we urge Congress to act now to cut the bloated nuclear weapons budget.” http://owl.li/7JXc8

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Nukes to nowhere - Tactical nuclear weapons in Europe have “lost their purpose,” writes David Hoffman at Foreign Policy. Simple questions of “why are they still deployed?” and “where would they be dropped” tend to yield answers showing the bombs’ lack of military utility.

--Hoffman’s article includes new analysis from former Senator Sam Nunn, recommending returning all of NATO’s tactical nuclear weapons to the United States within five years. http://owl.li/7JXmB

Iran sanctions proposal - Sens. Mark Kirk (R-IL) and Robert Menendez (D-NJ) have proposed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization act, building on the designation of the Iran’s Central Bank as a “primary money laundering concern." The amendment “would add to that by barring any U.S. financial institution from doing business with any foreign financial institution that knowingly conducted any significant financial transaction with the CBI,” Josh Rogin reports. http://owl.li/7JXxd

Evangelicals: rethink nukes - “We question the acceptability of nuclear weapons as part of a just national defense,” write leaders from the National Association of Evangelicals in The Washington Post. “In our globalizing world, security cannot be obtained by threatening retaliation after a nuclear strike. Instead, our security - as well as our commitment to seeking genuine peace -requires that we eliminate the very possibility of such an attack.”

--The authors recommendations for next steps include re-examining the moral and ethical basis for the doctrine of nuclear deterrence to ratifying the CTBT. http://owl.li/7JXJY

Defense and job creation - “Our key finding is that spending on the military is a poor source of job creation relative to spending on the green economy, health care, education, or even personal household consumption,” write UMASS-Amherst professors Robert Pollin and Heidi Garrett-Peltier in their updated study on the employment effects of domestic spending. http://owl.li/7JXWD

Nuke consolidation - As part of an effort “to reinvigorate the nuclear enterprise” after some slip-ups, the Air Force is moving the units responsible for handling nuclear weapons to the Global Strike Command. Phil Ewing of DODBuzz reports. http://owl.li/7JXTt

China’s tunnels, GU’s grad students - The Washington Post has a longer story on a study from a Georgetown professor and his research team estimating that China has built some 3,000 miles of tunnels, including some tunnels for enhancing the survivability of the Chinese nuclear arsenal.

--The study has caught criticism for its methods, as well as its conclusions about the size of China’s nuclear arsenal. “Their research has value, but it also shows the danger of the Internet,” Hans M. Kristensen said to The Post. http://owl.li/7JY8x

UK funds new nuke facilities - “The United Kingdom has committed $3.1 billion for work on new nuclear arms facilities before the government has made a final determination on whether to replace its submarine-based nuclear deterrent.” Global Security Newswire reports. http://owl.li/7JXZJ

Nuclear Money Pit - Experts call the Chemical Metallurgy Research Replacement “unnecessary, poorly designed, and dangerous.” With a $5.5 billion price tag - up from the original estimate $375 million - it’s also unaffordable. Kelley Beaucar Vlahos looks into the costs and logic behind the program. http://owl.li/7JY4l