‘COLD-WAR ERA WEAPONS’

Scientists Are Worried About U.S. Plan to Build an ‘Outdated’ $100B Nuclear Weapon: Report

The Federation of American Scientists will release a report next week alleging a lack of “serious consideration” about whether the U.S. really needs another nuclear weapon.

The U.S. is building a $100 billion replacement nuclear missile “based on a series of flawed assumptions,” a new think-tank report set to be released next week says. Politicians from states that will benefit financially from the project and industry lobbyists have pushed hard for the project to be greenlit, according to the Guardian. “It is becoming increasingly clear that there has not been a serious consideration of what role these cold war-era weapons are supposed to play in a post-cold war security environment,” the Federation of American Scientists’ report will say. Some critics argue the U.S. should phase out its 400 Minuteman missiles given the challenges represented by the technology. The missile will replace an aging Minuteman III missile that the FAS says would be cheaper to maintain, contrary to US Air Force assessments saying it would be less expensive to build a new one.