New Nuke Capacitors Will Cost Up to $850M; Other Weapons Programs to Foot Bill

摘要

WASHINGTON -It will cost as much as $850 million to replace commercial capacitors deemed unsuitable for use in two refurbished nuclear weapons, a senior National Nuclear Security Administration official told lawmakers here this week. For the B61-12 gravity bomb, an ongoing homogenization of four different versions of the oldest deployed nuclear weapon, the costs will range from between $600 million to $700 million, Charles Verdon, the agency's deputy administrator for defense programs, said Wednesday at a hearing of the House Armed Services strategic forces subcommittee. That would bring the National Nuclear Security Administration's (NNSA) share of the B61-12 costs to around $8.7 billion over 20 years, rather than the $8 billion or so estimated in the agency's 2020 Stockpile Stewardship and Management plan.