Did you know that the U.S.'s nuclear stockpile is getting a giant makeover?

The general thinking is that, you know, you wouldn't buy a car in the 60s, 70s, or 80s, put it in the garage, take it out today, and expect it to work.

It's Thursday, March 7th, and you're listening to Science Friday.

I'm sci-fi producer Rasha Aridi. For lots of folks in the U.S., the threat of nuclear weapons

is out of sight and out of mine, but the nuclear industrial complex is alive and well. In fact, here in the U.S., the state of nuclear weapons is evolving.

The U.S., among other countries, is updating its nuclear arsenal, which contains about 5,000 weapons.

And it'll cost around $50 billion a year.

So what does that mean for the safety of our world? Here's Iraflito.

With the treaty on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons in place, countries should be stopping

the spread of nuclear weapons and technology. That raises the question if nearly all countries

have agreed not to nuke each other, why are nuclear arsenals being updated?

And what does that signal to the world? A new book called Countdown, The Blinding Future of Nuclear

Weapons, analyzes the current nuclear age, what it means to care for thousands of weapons,

and why this moment in nuclear history is so important.

Joining me is Sarah Skull, science journalist and author of Countdown.

Sarah joins us from Westcliff, Colorado.

Welcome to Science Friday.

Yeah, thanks so much for having me.

It's nice to have you.

You know, I was one of those children of the 50s and 60s, and I recall the

duck and cover practices, the fallout shelter plans, the Cuban Missile Crisis. I know you weren't around

then, but you experienced the nuclear reality in a different way. You live by the nuclear

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