An effort to modernize the U.S. nuclear force, from bombs to ballistic missile submarines, is affordable despite estimates the cost could be as high as $1 trillion over 30 years, according to a new study by a Washington think-tank.
But paying for the nuclear modernization could mean trade-offs elsewhere, "thus, the issue is not affordability - rather, it is a matter of prioritization," the authors of the study said in preliminary findings released late on Tuesday.
Todd Harrison and Evan Braden Montgomery, analysts at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments think-tank, estimated the annual cost of maintaining and upgrading the U.S. nuclear force would rise 56 percent to a peak of about $26 billion by 2027 before falling back to current levels of about $17 billion per year by 2039.