Today, June 17th, the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons launched its fifth annual report on nuclear weapons spending.
Surge: 2023 Global Nuclear Weapons Spending
Their report shows over $91 billion spent on nuclear weapons in 2023, an increase of over 10 billion from 2022. That is $2,898 per second wasted on nuclear weapons. This is money that is sorely needed to address the climate crisis and make the transition to a clean green economy.
ICAN reports the US spent more than any other country and accounts for 80% of the increase over the previous year. According to the new report, the US spent upwards of $51 billion on nuclear weapons in 2023. These are the direct costs based on US figures from the Department of Defense and the Department of Energy in order to be compatible with the reporting of other countries. In Warheads to Windmills: Preventing Climate Catastrophe and Nuclear War, even more US nuclear expenses are examined which are not included in these DOD and DOE budgets. These include missile defense, legacy costs, threat reduction, expected cost overruns, indirect, and overhead costs which bring the total figure to over $100 billion in the United States alone. Read more about the details of US nuclear spending, including what it will cost to ultimately dispose of these weapons here: https://warheadstowindmills.org/financing-the-transition/.
The new ICAN report also dives into the companies involved in the production of nuclear weapons, how much they earn, and how much they spend influencing government policy and public opinion.
If you’re as outraged as we are, join the global “No Money for Nuclear Weapons” week of action from September 16 to 22 to say no more wasting money on weapons of mass destruction: https://www.icanw.org/week_of_action. Stay tuned for NuclearBan.US events during the week of action!
