Fact Sheet: An Enduring Commitment to the U.S. Nuclear Deterrent

President Obama has made an extraordinary commitment to ensure the modernization of our nuclear infrastructure, which had been neglected for years before he took office.  Today, the Administration once again demonstrates that commitment with the release of its plans to invest more than $85 billion over the next decade to modernize the U.S. nuclear weapons complex that supports our deterrent.  This represents a $4.1 billion increase over the next five years relative to the plan provided to Congress in May.  This level of funding is unprecedented since the end of the Cold War.

In the five years preceding the start of this Administration, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) – charged with sustaining America’s aging nuclear complex and stockpile – lost 20 percent of its purchasing power.  As part of the 2010 Nuclear Posture Review, the Administration made a commitment to modernize our nuclear arsenal and the complex that supports it.  To begin this effort, the President requested $7 billion for NNSA in fiscal year 2011 (FY 2011) – an increase of nearly 10 percent over the prior year.  

Today’s release of updated investment plans (in an update to the ‘Section 1251 Report to Congress’) shows this Administration’s commitment to requesting the funding needed to sustain and modernize the nuclear complex.  In particular, the Administration plans will:

• Add nearly $600 million in funding for FY 2012, resulting in a total planned FY 2012 budget request of $7.6 billion for NNSA weapons activities; 
• Increase funding by $4.1 billion increase over the next five years relative to the plan provided to Congress in May – including an additional $315 million for the Uranium Processing Facility (Tennessee) and the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement (CMRR) facility (New Mexico); and
• Propose spending more than $85 billion for NNSA weapons activities over the next decade.

The above plans provide the best current estimate of costs for the nuclear weapons stockpile and infrastructure.  As the UPF and CMRR facilities are only at the 45 percent design level, the Administration recognizes that the costs could change over time.  At the present time, the range for the Total Project Cost for CMRR is $3.7 billion to $5.8 billion and the range for UPF is $4.2 billion to $6.5 billion.  The Administration is committed to requesting the funds necessary to ensure completion of these facilities.  The potential additional costs associated with these facilities are shown in the table below.

Planned Projections for Weapons Stockpile and Infrastructure Spending
(then-year dollars in billions) 

Fiscal Year

FY2010

FY2011

FY2012

FY2013

FY2014

FY2015

FY2016

FY2017

FY2018

FY2019

FY2020

6.4

7.0

7.6

7.9

8.4

8.7

8.9

8.9 – 9.0

9.2 – 9.3

9.4– 9.6

9.4– 9.8