On the recordFebruary 23, 2010
the Vice President said that recent years have seen a slow but steady decline in support for our nuclear stockpile and infrastructure and for our highly trained nuclear workforce. The four national security statesmen I previously referred to agree. In January, all four of these experts wrote: These investments are urgently needed to undo the adverse consequences of deep reductions over the past 5 years in the laboratories' budgets for the science, technology and engineering programs that support and underwrite the Nation's nuclear deterrent. We know that JASON, an independent defense advisory group of senior scientists, has also echoed these same concerns in a recent study. The JASON group found that the lifetimes of today's warheads could be extended for decades. That was the good news. While the weapons are in good shape, JASON is concerned that maintenance of the stockpile relies on the 'renewal of expertise and capabilities in science, technology, engineering, and production unique to the nuclear weapons program' and that this expertise was 'threatened by lack of program stability, perceived lack of mission importance, and degradation of the work environment.'
