Nuclear Warfare As stated before, nuclear warfare is very costly and uses most of America’s capital on something not totally needed. Currently the United States spends $25 to $35 billion on annually on maintaining, testing and developing its nuclear arsenal. That gives us a total of 12,000 to19,000 nuclear weapons in the United States alone. Also, a recent study by the Brooking’s Institution found that the United States alone had spent more than $5.5 trillion on nuclear weapons programs since the beginning of the Nuclear Age. That money could have been used for something more useful, such as food for the needy and money towards