This is a 'list of states with nuclear weapons', sometimes called the "nuclear club." There are currently eight
states that have successfully detonated
nuclear weapons. Five are considered to be "nuclear weapons states", an internationally recognized status conferred by the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). In order of acquisition of nuclear weapons these are: the
United States,
Russia (successor state to the
Soviet Union), the
United Kingdom,
France, and
China.
Since the formulation of the NPT, three non-signatory states have conducted
nuclear tests:
India,
Pakistan, and
North Korea.
Israel is also widely believed to have nuclear weapons, though it has refused to confirm or deny this.
[1] The status of these nations is not formally recognized by international bodies as none of them are currently signatories to the NPT.
Iran is accused by the
United Nations of having a
secret development program, a charge Iranian officials have denied.
Estimated worldwide nuclear stockpiles
The following is a list of
nations that have admitted the possession of nuclear weapons, the approximate number of
warheads under their control in 2002, and the year they tested their first weapon. This list is informally known in global politics as the "Nuclear Club". With the exception of Russia and the United States (which have subjected their nuclear forces to independent verification under various treaties) these figures are estimates, in some cases quite unreliable estimates. Also, these figures represent total warheads possessed, rather than deployed. In particular, under the
SORT treaty thousands of Russian and U.S. nuclear warheads are in inactive stockpiles awaiting processing. The fissile material contained in the warheads can then be recycled for use in nuclear reactors.
From a high of 65,000 active weapons in 1985, there were about 20,000 active nuclear weapons in the world in 2002. Many of the "decommissioned" weapons were simply stored or partially dismantled, not destroyed.
[2] As of 2007, the total number was expected to continue to decline by 30%-50% over the next decade.
★ All numbers are estimates from the Natural Resources Defense Council, published in the ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists'', unless other references are given. If differences between active and total stockpile are known, they are given as two figures separated by a forward slash. If no specifics are known, only one figure is given. Stockpile number may not contain all intact warheads if a substantial amount of warheads are scheduled for but have not yet gone through dismantlement; not all "active" warheads are deployed at any given time. When a range of weapons is given (e.g., 0–10), it generally indicates that the estimate is being made on the amount of fissile material that has likely been produced, and the amount of fissile material needed per warhead depends on estimates of a country's proficiency at nuclear weapon design.
Five nuclear weapons states from the NPT
An early stage in the "
Trinity" fireball, the first nuclear explosion.
U.S. and USSR/Russian nuclear weapons stockpiles, 1945–2006.
★ '
United States'
Main articles: Nuclear weapons and the United States The United States developed the first atomic weapons during
World War II in co-operation with the United Kingdom and Canada, out of the fear that
Nazi Germany would develop them first. It tested its first nuclear weapon in 1945 ("
Trinity"), and remains the only country to have used nuclear weapons against another nation, during the
atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (see:
Manhattan Project). It was the first nation to develop the
hydrogen bomb, testing it ("
Ivy Mike") in 1952 and a deployable version in 1954 ("
Castle Bravo").
[13][14]
★ '
Soviet Union'
Main articles: Military history of the Soviet Union#The Cold War and nuclear weapons The Soviet Union tested its first nuclear weapon ("
Joe-1") in 1949, in a crash project developed partially with espionage obtained during and after
World War II (see:
Soviet atomic bomb project). The
USSR was the first
European nation to have developed and tested a
nuclear weapon. The direct motivation for their weapons development was the development of a balance of power during the
Cold War. It tested a primitive hydrogen bomb in 1953 ("
Joe-4") and a megaton-range hydrogen bomb in 1955 ("
RDS-37"). The Soviet Union also tested the most powerful explosive ever detonated by humans, ("
Tsar Bomba"), with a theoretical yield of 100 megatons, intentionally reduced to 50 when detonated. After its dissolution in 1991, the Soviets' weapons entered officially into the possession of Russia.
[15]
★ '
United Kingdom'
Main articles: Nuclear weapons and the United Kingdom The United Kingdom tested its first nuclear weapon ("
Hurricane") in 1952, drawing largely on data gained while collaborating with the United States during the
Manhattan Project. The
UK was the second
European nation to have developed and tested a
nuclear weapon. Its program was motivated to have an independent deterrent against the USSR, while also remaining relevant in Cold War Europe. It tested its first hydrogen bomb in 1957.
[16][17] It maintains the
Trident ballistic missile fleet of four
'Vanguard' class nuclear-powered submarines. The British government controversially announced a replacement to the current Trident system to take place over the next decade (see
British replacement of the Trident system).
★ '
France'
Main articles: Nuclear weapons and France France tested its first nuclear weapon in 1960 ("
Gerboise Bleue"), based mostly on its own research. It was motivated by the
Suez Crisis diplomatic tension ''vis-à-vis'' both the USSR and the
Free World allies United States and United Kingdom. It was also relevant to retain
great power status, along side the United Kingdom, during the post-colonial
Cold War (see:
Force de frappe). France tested its first hydrogen bomb in 1968 ("
Opération Canopus"). After the Cold War, France has disarmed 175 warheads with the reduction and modernization of its arsenal that has now evolved to a dual system based on submarine-launched ballistic missiles (
SSBN) and medium-range air-to-surface missiles (
Rafale fighter-bombers). However new nuclear weapons are in development and reformed nuclear squadrons were trained during
Enduring Freedom operation in Afghanistan. In January 2006, president Jacques Chirac officially stated a terrorist act or the use of
weapons of mass destruction against France would result in a nuclear counterattack.
[18]
★ '
China'
Main articles: China and weapons of mass destruction#Nuclear weapons China tested its first
nuclear weapon in 1964.
China was the first
Asian nation to have developed and tested a
nuclear weapon. The weapon was developed as a deterrent against both the
United States and the USSR. It tested its first
hydrogen bomb in 1967 at
Lop Nur.
[19] The country is currently thought to have had a stockpile of around 130 warheads.
[20]
Other known nuclear powers
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An Indian Agni-II intermediate range ballistic missile displayed at the Republic Day Parade 2004. (Photo: Antônio Milena/ABr)
★ '
India'
Main articles: India and weapons of mass destruction India has never been a member of the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. It tested a dubious "peaceful nuclear device", as it was described by the Indian government, in 1974 ("
Smiling Buddha"), the first test developed after the creation of the NPT, and created new questions about how civilian nuclear technology could be diverted secretly to weapons purposes (
dual-use technology). India's secret development caused great concern and anger particularly from nations that had supplied it nuclear reactors for peaceful and power generating needs such as Canada. It appears to have been primarily motivated as a deterrent against China and arch rival Pakistan as well as attempt to project India as regional power. It tested weaponized nuclear warheads in 1998 ("
Operation Shakti"), including a thermonuclear device.
[21] In July 2005, it was officially recognized by the United States as "a responsible state with advanced nuclear technology" and agreed to full nuclear cooperation between the two nations.
[22] This is seen as a tacit entry into the nuclear club of the above nations. In March 2006, a
civil nuclear cooperation deal was signed between President
George W. Bush and Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh. This deal, ratified by
United States Congress and
United States Senate in December 2006 would pave the path for the United States and other members of the
Nuclear Suppliers Group to sell civilian nuclear technology to India. As of September 2005, India was estimated to have had a stockpile of around 70-120 warheads.
[23]
★ '
Pakistan'
Main articles: Pakistan and weapons of mass destruction Pakistan is also not a member of the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Pakistan covertly developed nuclear weapons over many decades, beginning in the late 1970s. Pakistan first delved into nuclear power after the establishment of its first nuclear power plant near
Karachi with equipment and materials supplied mainly by western nations in the early 1970s. Pakistani Prime Minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto promised to build nuclear weapons "even if we have to eat grass for 1,000 years", in the 1970's after India's surprise nuclear test. The government was surprised at the international communities muted response and it was at this point that the realization was made that Pakistan will have to fend for itself by all means necessary. It is nearly certain that China proliferated an old Chinese (Lop Nor 3/4 vintage ) weapons design and critical ring magnets to Pakistan in the early 80s, and enabled Pakistan to have a rudimentary nuclear weapons capability by the end of the 1980s. The United States continued to certify that Pakistan did not possess nuclear weapons until 1990, when sanctions were imposed under the Pressler Amendment, requiring a cutoff of U.S. economic and military assistance to Pakistan.
[24] In 1998, Pakistan conducted its first nuclear tests at the
Chagai Hills, in response to the tests conducted by India a few weeks before. A.Q. Khan has also admitted having provided centrifuges and centrifuge designs to North Korea, a fact acknowledged in 2005 by Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf. He also proliferated uranium enrichment technology to Iran and Libya.
[25]
★ '
North Korea'
Main articles: North Korea and weapons of mass destruction North Korea was a member of the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, but announced a withdrawal on
January 10,
2003 and did so that April. In February 2005 they claimed to possess functional nuclear weapons, though their lack of a test at the time led many experts to doubt the claim. However, in October 2006, North Korea stated that due to growing intimidation by the USA, it would conduct a nuclear test to confirm its nuclear status. North Korea reported a successful nuclear test on
October 9,
2006. Most U.S. intelligence officials believe that North Korea did, in fact, test a nuclear device due to radioactive isotopes detected by U.S. aircraft; however, most agree that the test was probably only partially successful, having less than a
kiloton in
yield.
[26]
Undeclared nuclear states
★ '
Israel'
Main articles: Nuclear weapons and Israel Israel is not a member of the
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and refuses to officially confirm or deny having a nuclear arsenal, or to having developed nuclear weapons, or even to having a nuclear weapons program. Israel has pledged not to be the first country to introduce nuclear weapons into the region, but is also pursuing a policy of
strategic ambiguity with regard to their possession. In the late 1960s, Israeli Ambassador to the US Yitzhak Rabin informed the United States State Department, that its understanding of "introducing" such weapons meant that they would be tested and publicly declared, while merely possessing the weapons did not constitute "introducing" them.
[27] Although Israel claims that the
Negev Nuclear Research Center near
Dimona is a "research reactor", no scientific reports based on work done there have ever been published. Extensive information about the program in Dimona was also disclosed by technician
Mordechai Vanunu in 1986.
:According to the
Natural Resources Defense Council and the
Federation of American Scientists, Israel possesses around 75–200 weapons.
[28]Imagery analysts can identify weapon bunkers, mobile missile launchers, and launch sites in satellite photographs. Israel may have tested a nuclear weapon along with
South Africa in 1979, but this has never been confirmed (see
Vela Incident).
States accused of having a nuclear weapons program
Below are countries which have been accused by a number of governments and intergovernmental agencies of currently attempting to develop nuclear weapons technology.
★ '
Iran'
Main articles: Iran and weapons of mass destruction#Nuclear weapons Iran signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and says
its interest in nuclear technology, including enrichment, is for civilian purposes only (a right guaranteed under the treaty), but the
United Nations suspects that this is a cover for a
nuclear weapons program.
States formerly possessing nuclear weapons
Nuclear weapons have been present in many nations, often as staging grounds under control of other powers. However, in only a few instances have nations given up nuclear weapons after being in control of them; in most cases this has been because of special political circumstances. The fall of the USSR, for example, left several former Soviet-bloc countries in possession of nuclear weapons.
★
'
South Africa'
Main articles: South Africa and weapons of mass destruction South Africa produced six nuclear weapons in the 1980s, but disassembled them in the early 1990s. In 1979 there was a putative detection of a clandestine nuclear test in the Indian Ocean, and it has long been speculated that it was potentially a test by South Africa, perhaps in collaboration with Israel, though this has never been confirmed (see
Vela Incident). South Africa signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 1991.
[29]
Former Soviet countries
★ '
Belarus' had 81 single warhead missiles stationed on its territory after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991. They were all transferred to Russia by 1996. Belarus has signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
[30]
★ '
Kazakhstan' inherited 1,400 nuclear weapons from the Soviet Union, and transferred them all to Russia by 1995. Kazakhstan has signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
[31]
★ '
Ukraine' has signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Ukraine inherited about 5,000 nuclear weapons when it became independent from the USSR in 1991, making its nuclear arsenal the third-largest in the world.
[32] By 1996, Ukraine had voluntarily disposed of all nuclear weapons within its territory, transferring them to Russia.
[33]
See also
★
Nuclear disarmament
★
Nuclear proliferation
★
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
★
Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
Notes
1. http://www.guardian.co.uk/israel/Story/0,,1970616,00.html
2. Webster, Paul (July/August 2003). "Just like old times," ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists'' 59:4: 30–35. ''[1]''
3. Norris, Robert S. and Hans M. Kristensen. "U.S. nuclear forces, 2006," ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists'' 61:1 (January/February 2005): 68-71, ''[2]''
4. Norris, Robert S. and Hans M. Kristensen. "Russian nuclear forces, 2006," ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists'' 62:2 (March/April 2006): 64-67, ''[3]''
5. Norris, Robert S. and Hans M. Kristensen. "British nuclear forces, 2005," ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists'' 61:6 (November/December 2005): 77-79, ''[4]''
6. Norris, Robert S. and Hans M. Kristensen. "French nuclear forces, 2005," ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists'' 61:4 (July/August 2005): 73-75,''[5]''
7. Norris, Robert S. and Hans M. Kristensen. "Chinese nuclear forces, 2006," ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists'' 62:3 (May/June 2006): 60-63, ''[6]''; Lewis, Jeffery. "The ambiguous arsenal," ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists'' 61:3 (May/June 2005): 52-59. ''[7]''.
8. Norris, Robert S. and Hans M. Kristensen. "India's nuclear forces, 2005," ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists'' 61:5 (September/October 2005): 73-75,''[8]''
9. Norris, Robert S. and Hans M. Kristensen. "Pakistan's nuclear forces, 2001," ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists'' 58:1 (January/February 2002): 70-71,''[9]''
10. Norris, Robert S. and Hans M. Kristensen. "North Korea's nuclear program, 2005," ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists'' 61:3 (May/June 2005): 64-67,''[10]''
11. globalsecurity.org. ''Nuclear Weapons Testing - North Korean Statements''
12. Norris, Robert S., William Arkin, Hans M. Kristensen, and Joshua Handler. "Israeli nuclear forces, 2002," ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists'' 58:5 (September/October 2002): 73-75, ''[11]''
13. U.S. nuclear weapons: The secret history, , Chuck, Hansen, Aerofax, 1988, ISBN 0-517-56740-7
14. The Swords of Armageddon: U.S. nuclear weapons development since 1945, , Chuck, Hansen, Chukelea Publications, 1995,
15. Stalin and the bomb: The Soviet Union and atomic energy, 1939-1956, , David, Holloway, Yale University Press, 1994, ISBN 0-300-06056-4
16. Independence and deterrence: Britain and atomic energy, 1945-1952, , Margaret, Gowing, Macmillan, 1974, ISBN 0333157818
17. Britain and the H-bomb, , Lorna, Arnold, Palgrave, 2001, ISBN 0312235186
18. France 'would use nuclear arms' (BBC, Jan. 2006)
19. John Wilson Lewis and Xue Litai, ''China Builds the Bomb'' (Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press, 1988). ISBN 0804714525
20. Norris, Robert S. and Hans M. Kristensen. "Chinese nuclear forces, 2006," ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists'' 62:3 (May/June 2006): 60-63, ''[12]''; Lewis, Jeffery. "The ambiguous arsenal," ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists'' 61:3 (May/June 2005): 52-59. ''[13]''.
21. India's Nuclear Weapons Program: Operation Shakti: 1998
22. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (carnegieendowment.org), ''Proliferation Analysis: A Nuclear Triumph for India''
23. Norris, Robert S. and Hans M. Kristensen. "India's nuclear forces, 2005", ''Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists'' 61:5 (September/October 2005): 73–75,''[14]''
24. http://www.iie.com/research/topics/sanctions/pakistan.cfm
25. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4180286.stm
26. See 2006 North Korean nuclear test for the latest detailed information and citations.
27. Avner Cohen and William Burr, "-http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/04/28/AR2006042801326_pf.html The Untold Story of Israel's Bomb]," ''Washington Post'', April 30, 2006; B01.
28. Federation of American Scientists (fas.org) (August 17, 2000) ''Israel's Nuclear Weapons''
29. Federation of American Scientists (fas.org) (May 29, 2000). ''Nuclear Weapons Program (South Africa)''
30. Federation of American Scientists (fas.org). ''Belarus Special Weapons''
31. Federation of American Scientists (fas.org). ''Kazakhstan Special Weapons''
32. globalsecurity.org. ''Ukraine Special Weapons''
33. Federation of American Scientists (fas.org). ''Ukraine Special Weapons''
External links
★
"Global Nuclear Stockpiles, 1945–2006" from
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
★
Nuclear Threat Initiative
★
Globalsecurity.org — World Special Weapons Guide
★
The Nuclear Weapon Archive
★
U.S. Nuclear Weapons in Europe: A review of post-Cold War policy, force levels, and war planning NRDC, February 2005
★
Pakistani Nuclear Development
★ Online NewsHour with Jim Lehrer:
Tracking Nuclear Proliferation
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