{"id":269220,"date":"2024-07-15T12:00:03","date_gmt":"2024-07-15T11:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=269220"},"modified":"2024-07-15T10:33:19","modified_gmt":"2024-07-15T09:33:19","slug":"hundreds-of-scientists-urge-biden-to-cancel-100-billion-nuclear-weapons-boondoggle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2024\/07\/hundreds-of-scientists-urge-biden-to-cancel-100-billion-nuclear-weapons-boondoggle\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds of Scientists Urge Biden to Cancel $100 Billion Nuclear Weapons Boondoggle"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A protester holds an anti-nuclear weapons sign at Rockaway Beach in New York in January 2021. (Photo: Erik McGregor\/LightRocket via Getty Images)<\/p><\/div>\n

“There is no sound technical or strategic rationale for spending tens of billions of dollars building new nuclear weapons,” an expert said. <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

8 Jul 2024 <\/em>– More than 700 scientists today called for an end to the United States’ land-based nuclear weapons program that’s set to be replaced, following a Pentagon decision to approve the program despite soaring costs.<\/p>\n

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In an open letter<\/a> to President Joe Biden and Congress, the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) argued that the new intercontinental-range ballistic missile system, known as Sentinel<\/a>, was “expensive, dangerous, and unnecessary.”<\/p>\n

The Department of Defense on Monday certified<\/a> the continuation of the project, releasing the results of a review that was legally required when the cost estimate ballooned to “at least” $131 billion<\/a> earlier this year, which drew the scrutiny of some Democrats in Congress, according to<\/a>The Hill<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The Defense review found that Sentinel was “essential to national security,” but the scientists disagreed with the assessment.<\/p>\n

“There is no sound technical or strategic rationale for spending tens of billions of dollars building new nuclear weapons,” Tara Drozdenko, director of UCS’ global security program, said in a statement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Nobel Prize-winning physicist Barry Barish, a signatory to the letter, was also harshly critical of the Pentagon’s approach.<\/p>\n

“It is unconscionable to continue to develop nuclear weapons, like the Sentinel program,” he said.<\/p>\n

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700+ scientists & experts are calling on President Biden & Congress to cancel the Sentinel program and retire the US land-based missile force. Doing so would save Americans more than $100 billion and make the world safer. <\/p>\n

Learn more: https:\/\/t.co\/5dQCOUKnQ3<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/UxtHV9TSod<\/a><\/p>\n

— Union of Concerned Scientists (@UCSUSA) July 8, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n