In case you didn't see it, today POGO released a new report on modernizing the U.S. nuclear weapons complex.
One of our key findings, as stated in a press release this morning:
The U.S. has nearly 400 metric tons (MT) of highly enriched uranium (HEU), a fissile material used in nuclear weapons, that is not necessary for U.S. defense needs, the vast majority of which has not been declared surplus so that it can be properly eliminated. This is the equivalent of more than 16,000 nuclear warheads.
We'll be diving into this topic in more detail later in the week on the blog, but in a nutshell, this presents an enormous opportunity to:
- Save taxpayer dollars;
- create jobs;
- improve security; and
- generate additional revenue—up to $23 billion—for the Treasury.
How? The answer is in a process known as downblending—the process of converting the highly enriched uranium to low enriched uranium, which is of no interest to terrorists but which is suitable for use in commercial nuclear fuel.
As POGO Executive Director Danielle Brian noted today, increasing the current rate of downblending is a win-win option, and "It is rare to see a policy reform that has so many up-sides."
-- Bryan Rahija
Read: U.S. Nuclear Weapons Complex: How the Country Can Profit and Become More Secure by Getting Rid of Its Surplus Weapons-Grade Uranium [click here for .pdf version]
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