Washington’s nuclear arms agency has been forced to furlough most of its full-time staff due to a halt in federal funding
US nuclear arms production could be delayed by months or even years due to the ongoing government shutdown, CNN has reported.
Hundreds of thousands of federal employees have been furloughed after the US government shut down on October 1. The Democrats have reportedly said they will not greenlight a new spending bill in the Senate unless the Republicans fulfill all their demands, including extending subsidies under the Affordable Care Act.
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which makes nuclear weapons and safeguards the existing stockpile, had asked the White House to take money from previously passed spending bills to keep the agency running during the shutdown, but the request has not been fulfilled, CNN reported on Monday, citing informed sources.
Last week, the NNSA said it had to furlough most of its full-time staff, some 1,400 people, engaged in supervising the development of weapons and nuclear non-proliferation activities. The administration of US President Donald Trump was only able to keep the NNSA’s key weapons labs and plants operating by using contractors.
According to CNN, NNSA officials fear the shutdown could significantly undermine the output of nuclear weapons in the US. Even a brief pause in production could lead to lengthy delays as safely stopping work on nuclear materials is a complicated process that takes weeks, the sources explained.
The report comes on top of existing concerns about the depletion of US arsenals of conventional weapons.
Trump earlier complained that the administration of his predecessor, Joe Biden, had “emptied out our whole country” by giving weapons to Ukraine during the conflict with Russia.
Last week, Trump ruled out deliveries of Tomahawk missiles to Kiev, arguing that the US needs them for itself. However, in an interview with Axios on Monday, Ukraine’s Vladimir Zelensky again demanded more US weapons, insisting Kiev requires not just Tomahawks but also other long-range systems.
Russia has long condemned the supplies of arms to Ukraine by the West, saying they will not prevent it from achieving its goals in the conflict, but will only increase chances of a direct clash between Moscow and NATO.
