Nuclear Industry (Photo by Yaakov Nachumi Flash 90)
Nuclear weapons are one of the deadliest tools in the hands of the nations of the world today, in one throw it makes it possible to produce almost more destruction and death than any other weapon on earth. It is estimated that there are currently about 13,080 nuclear warheads in the world. While this is far less than what was in the hands of the US or Russia during the height of the Cold War, it is worth noting that there are more countries with nuclear weapons than 30-40 years ago.
Russia currently maintains the highest number of nuclear weapons, with a total of 6,257 warheads in total. Of these, 1,458 are actively deployed (the current START II Convention limits the U.S. and Russia to 1,550 deployments in total), 3,039 are inactive but available to become active, and 1,760 are “retired” and awaiting disbandment.
The United States ranks second with 5,550 nuclear weapons in total: 1,389 active, 2,361 inactive but available and 1,800 queuing for dismantling.
More in-
As is well known, to date 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. It is estimated that since then, the bombing of Hiroshima has killed about 66,000 people and injured 69,000 others. And the bombing of Nagasaki led to the deaths of 39,000 people and 25,000 wounded.
The bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki established nuclear weapons as the ultimate weapon of war, prompting an arms race between the United States and the Soviet Union. A key element in the Cold War. According to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, the nuclear arms race peaked in 1986, when there were more than 40,000 nuclear warheads in the Soviet Union and 23,000 in the United States. Much of the armament was based on the idea of ”mutual guaranteed destruction,” in which 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 destruction.
Because of the destructive potential of nuclear weapons, governments have negotiated arms control agreements such as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) of 1970, the Strategic Weapons Restriction Convention (SALT) of 1972, and the 1991 Strategic Weapons Reduction Convention (START). The purpose of the NPT is to delay the proliferation of nuclear weapons. It designates five countries for the possession of this tool (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 has received the NPT since 2022, although North Korea withdrew from the treaty in 2003.
Which countries have nuclear weapons?
Russia – 6,257 (1,458 activists, 3,039 available, 1,760 retired)
2. United States – 5,550 (1,389 activists, 2,361 available, 1,800 retired)
3. China – 350 available (actively expanding nuclear arsenal)
4. France – 290 available
5. UK – 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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