The US spent over $52 billion on nuclear weapons and related programs in fiscal year 2008, while only 10 percent of that went toward preventing a nuclear attack according to a study by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. Only 1.3 percent ($700 million) of the nuclear security budget was devoted to preparing for the consequences of a nuclear or radiological attack. Another 56 percent of the total went toward operating, sustaining, and upgrading the U.S. nuclear arsenal. Nuclear security consumes $13 billion more than international diplomacy and foreign assistance; nearly double what the United States allots for general science, space, and technology; and 14 times what the Department of Energy (DOE) budgets for all energy-related research and development. Nuclear weapons and weapons-related programs account for at least 67 percent of DOE’s budget, 8.5 percent of the FBI’s budget, 7.1 percent of the Department of Defense budget, and 1.7 percent of the Department of Homeland Security’s budget.
“Nuclear Security Spending: Assessing Costs, Examining Priorities” Stephen I. Schwartz and Deepti Choubey, Carnegie Endowment for Peace, 1/2009 http://carnegieendowment.org/publications/index.cfm?fa=view&id=22601&prog=zgp&proj=znpp