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U.S. Plans To Cut Nuclear Weapons

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 19, 2007

The Bush administration said Tuesday that a 15 percent reduction will be made in the nation's stockpile of nuclear weapons, taking the overall inventory down to less than a quarter of its size at the end of the Cold War in 1991.

An effort to retire older weapons was accomplished five years ahead of schedule, allowing the new round of cuts, said Thomas P. D'Agostino, chief of the National Nuclear Security Administration. The additional cuts would be completed by 2012.

The overall size of the nation's nuclear inventory is classified. Under the terms of a 2002 treaty, though, the United States and Russia are committed to reducing deployed weapons on missiles and aircraft to between 1,700 and 2,200 by 2012. It is believed the United States holds about 4,000 additional weapons in reserve status.

Separately, the Energy Department unveiled a long-term plan to modernize and reduce the size of its weapons research and production complex.

Los Angeles Times

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