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US general asks cut in nuclear stockpile

Posted: 05 Aug 2012 07:28 PM PDT

The Pentagon calls the stockpile an "active reserve." Others call it a hidden nuclear arsenal. International arms control treaties don't apply to it, and officials rarely discuss it publicly. Now the nation's backup supply of nuclear weapons may be next up for major cuts. General Norton A. Schwartz, the chief of the Air Force, says the backup arsenal is more than the nation needs and is steadily becoming more expensive to maintain and secure.