2023-04-26 22:00:12
Nuclear Industry (photo by Yaakov Nachumi Flash90)
Nuclear weapons are one of the deadliest tools that are in the hands of the countries of the world today, with one throw it allows to produce more destruction and death than almost any other weapon on earth. It is estimated that there are currently about 13,080 nuclear warheads in the world. While this is much less than what the US or Russia had during the height of the Cold War, it is worth noting that there are more countries with nuclear weapons than 30-40 years ago.
Currently, Russia maintains the largest number of nuclear warheads, with a total of 6,257 warheads. Of these, 1,458 are actively deployed (the current START II treaty limits both the US and Russia to 1,550 total deployed), 3,039 are inactive but available for reactivation, and 1,760 are “retired” and awaiting decommissioning.
The United States is second with 5,550 total nuclear weapons: 1,389 active, 2,361 inactive but available, and 1,800 in the pipeline for dismantling.
More in-
As we know, until today nuclear weapons have been used in war only twice. At the end of World War II, the United States dropped a nuclear bomb called Little Boy on the city of Hiroshima in Japan, and a second bomb called Fat Man on the city of Nagasaki. Since then, the Hiroshima bombing is estimated to have killed around 66,000 people and injured another 69,000. And the bombing of Nagasaki led to the death of 39,000 people and 25,000 wounded.
The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki established nuclear weapons as the ultimate weapon of war, triggering an arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union. A key element of the Cold War. According to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, the nuclear arms race peaked in 1986, when the Soviet Union had more than 40,000 nuclear warheads and the United States had 23,000. Much of the armament was based on the concept of “mutually assured destruction”, where both sides believed that the best way to avoid nuclear war was to possess so many nuclear weapons that the adversary would not launch an attack for fear of mutual annihilation.
Because of the destructive potential of nuclear weapons, governments have negotiated arms control agreements such as the 1970 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), the 1972 Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT), and the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). The purpose of the NPT is to delay the proliferation of nuclear weapons. It designates five nuclear-weapon states (NWS)—the United States, Russia, China, France, and the United Kingdom—and classifies the rest as non-nuclear-weapon states (NNWS). Almost every country in the world accepted the NPT as of 2022, although North Korea withdrew from the treaty in 2003.
Which countries have nuclear weapons?
1. Russia – 6,257 (1,458 active, 3,039 available, 1,760 retired)
2. United States – 5,550 (1,389 active, 2,361 available, 1,800 retired)
3. China – 350 available (actively expanding nuclear arsenal)
4. France – 290 available
5. United Kingdom – 225 available
6. Pakistan – 165 available
7. India – 156 available
8. Israel – 90 available (according to foreign publications)
9. North Korea – 40-50 available (estimated)
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