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Why are nations building nukes again? And do the ones they have actually work?
The final years of the Cold War and the post-Soviet era that followed were a period of successive victories for efforts at nuclear stockpile reduction and disarmament.
But in 2023, efforts at new arms control agreements appear dead in the water, and many nations are now either looking to replace old systems or, like China, expanding their arsenals beyond their present levels.
In this episode, I look at nuclear modernisation, new delivery systems, and the industrial and financial challenges involved.
Patreon:
/ perunau
Relevant Reading/sourcing (to be expanded)
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Nuclear notebook for national inventories:
thebulletin.org/#navbar-brand
thebulletin.org/nuclear-noteb...
fas.org/publication/nuclear-n...
thebulletin.org/premium/2023-...
RAND - US China military scorecard (featuring counter-force modelling)
www.rand.org/pubs/research_re...
NNSA on Plutonium Pit Production
www.energy.gov/nnsa/plutonium...
Government Accountability Office on US Nuclear Research and Production
www.gao.gov/blog/over-budget-...
GAO on nuclear forces sustainment and modernisation
www.gao.gov/nuclear-weapons-a...
GAO - “NNSA Does Not Have a Comprehensive Schedule or Cost Estimate for Pit Production Capability”
www.gao.gov/products/gao-23-1...
Congressional Budget Office Projected Costs of US nuclear forces 2021 - 2030
www.cbo.gov/publication/57130
CBO Projected costs of US nuclear forces 2023-2032
www.cbo.gov/publication/59365
USAF Nuclear Weapon Centre Sentinel factsheet
www.afgsc.af.mil/Portals/51/D...
Mattis and the nuclear sponge
www.defensenews.com/space/201...
NNSA warhead activities factsheet
www.energy.gov/sites/prod/fil...
NNSA W76-1 Fact sheet
www.osti.gov/servlets/purl/13...
CSIS Brief on US Nuclear Modernisation (Hersman, Rodgers & Farabaugh)
csis-website-prod.s3.amazonaw...
US 2022 National Defence Strategy
media.defense.gov/2022/Oct/27...
CRS on the 2022 Nuclear Posture Review
crsreports.congress.gov/produ...
CRS on Nuclear Triad
crsreports.congress.gov/produ...
Reporting on claimed failed test of Sarmat
www.cbsnews.com/news/russia-t...
First Strike IMDb entry
www.imdb.com/title/tt2429312/
Kristensen, McKinzie & Postol - How US nuclear force modernization is undermining strategic stability: The burst-height compensating super-fuze
thebulletin.org/2017/03/how-u...
Reporting on production of Pits at Los Alamos
time.com/6296743/los-alamos-l...
Report on Sarmat going “on duty”
www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/9...
Wired - on Russian nukes not working
www.wired.com/story/nuclear-w...
UK House of Commons Library - Nuclear weapons at a glance: UK
commonslibrary.parliament.uk/...
Caveats & Comments:
All normal caveats and comments apply and please see the pinned comment for corrections.
In particular - I would like to note as always that this material has been created for entertainment purposes and should not be relied upon to inform financial or other similar decisions.
Timestamps
00:00:00 - Nuclear Weapon Modernisation
00:01:08 - What Am I Talking About
00:03:57 - Cold War Proliferation
00:08:47 - Nuclear Legacy And Renewal Decision
00:12:07 - How And Why Of Building A Bomb
00:21:45 - United States
00:34:54 - Russia
00:54:27 - China
01:02:22 - France
01:07:08 - United Kingdom
01:10:55 - Conclusion
01:11:48 - Channel Update