Unlike in the United States, where the Stockpile Stewardship Program and modernization of the nuclear infrastructure are fairly public and often hotly debated affairs, Russia prefers a low-key approach to these issues. On June 9, 2010 Prime Minister Putin signed a document described in the press as a Supplement to the Federal Program "Development of the Nuclear Weapons Complex". The document reportedly contains a set of measures that will upgrade experimental and testing facilities of the nuclear weapons labs. It appears to be a long-term program (up to 50 years) that includes an increase in weapons labs budgets. No details or budget estimates have been released, but the program appears to be a Russian version of stockpile stewardship. Head of Rosatom, Sergei Kiriyenko, was quoted as saying that it would allow the labs to maintain the nuclear arsenal at the time when Russia follows its CTBT obligations.
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