Neuclear Weapons

8/2/2019 Neuclear Weapons

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e wor , t ey say, s ecom ng a more angerousplace by the minute. With the nuclear weapons raceadding to the alarming scenario, ever wonder justhow what kind of nuclear arsenal exists the worldover? But we'll get to that in just a minute.

Meanwhile, India is all set to enter a select leagueof nations with missile capability to hit targets5,000 km away as it gets ready to test Agni-V long-range, nuclear-capable, ballistic missile onWednesday. Agni-V can strike deep into Asia andEurope, a move that will give access to New Delhiinto a small club of nations with intercontinentaldefence capabilities. Only the permanent membersof the U N Security Council - China, Russia, France,the United States and the United Kingdom - andIsrael are believed to have such long-range missiles.

The launch will be closely monitored by India'snuclear-armed rivals China and Pakistan and otherWestern nations, but is unlikely to draw the kind ofcriticism aimed at North Korea after its own failedlong-range rocket launch. Now back to what we

began with: just how many nuclear weapons do thenuclear powers across the world have, individually


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Russia is estimated to have about11,000 nuclear weapons: 2430strategic and about 2000 non-strategic warheads that areconsidered operationallydeployed; and about 3000strategic and up to 3300 non-strategic warheads awaitingdismantlement. Russias deliveryvehicles include about 330operationally deployed ballisticmissiles of five different typesthat carry about 1100 warheads;nine submarines carrying 16SLBMs; and 72 heavy bomberscapable of carrying more than 800airlaunched cruise missiles.Russia is estimated to have about737120 tons of HEU and 1458tons of weapongrade plutonium.


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The US government indicates ithas an active stockpile of 5113nuclear weapons. Independent

estimates indicate it also hasapproximately 3500 retiredwarheads, an unknown number ofwhich are being maintained forpossible reactivation. The UScurrently reports 1790 strategic

nuclear weapons as deployed onICBMs, SLBMs, and heavybombers. This does not includewarheads that are in the stockpilethat could be carried by deliverysystems not defined as deployed.

Independent estimates indicatethe US stockpile has 760 non-strategic weapons with about 200deployed, most of them at airbases in NATO countries inEurope. The US currently deploys

448 ICBMS; D5 SLBMs on 12Trident submarines, currently


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France possesses approximately300 nuclear warheads,approximately 290 of which aredeployed or operationallyavailable for deployment on shortnotice. Its delivery vehicles

consist of approximately 40aircraft assigned to a total of 40cruise missiles; fournuclearpowered ballistic missilesubmarines (at least two of whichare always fully operational)

equipped with nuclear-armedlong-range ballistic missiles.France is no longer thought to beproducing fissile materials fornuclear weapons. It is believed tohave an estimated six tons of

plutonium and 26 tons of HEU


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In September 2010, the UKgovernment announced that ithad not more than 225 Tridentnuclear warhead and that thiswould be reduced to not morethan 180 by the mid 2020s. TheUKs only delivery system is theTrident D5 missile. Until 2010each of the two or three armedVanguard class submarinescarried between 12 and 14operational D5 missiles. This willbe reduced to eight missiles persubmarine over the next fewyears. It is estimated that the UKhas produced over 3.5 tons ofweapon-grade plutonium and thatit has acquired from the UnitedStates 2122 tons of HEU and hasproduced 45 tons itself.


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Estimates suggest China currentlyhas approximately 170 nuclearwarheads including approximately110 operationally deployednuclear missiles, approximately60 warheads stored for its

submarine-launched ballisticmissiles, and bombers. China hasnot declared publically that is hasended the production of highlyenriched uranium (HEU) andplutonium for nuclear weapons,

though it is believed that Chinastopped production of HEU in1987 and plutonium by 1990.Chinas military inventory wouldbe about 164 tons of weapon-grade HEU and 1.80.5 tons of

weapon-grade plutonium.


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Pakistan is currently estimated tohave 90110 nuclear weapons. Ithas a number of short-range,medium, and longer-range road-mobile ballistic surface-to-surface

missiles in various stages ofdevelopment. It has developed asecond generation of ballisticmissile systems over the past fiveyears. It is estimated thatPakistan could have a stockpile of

2750 kg of weapon-grade HEU andmay be producing about 150 kg ofHEU per year. Estimates suggestPakistan has produced a total ofabout 140 kg of plutonium.


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India is estimated to have 80100nuclear warheads. It is alsodeveloping a range of deliveryvehicles, including land- and sea-based missiles, bombers, andsubmarines. There are no officialestimates of the size of Indiasstockpile of fissile materials,though it is known that Indiaproduces both HEU for its nuclearsubmarines and plutonium forweapons. India is estimated tohave a stockpile of 0.520.17 tonsof weapon-grade plutonium by theend of 2011. There has beenspeculation that India has usedreactor-grade plutonium in itsnuclear weapons, in which case,the nuclear arsenal couldpotentially be much larger, asIndia has approximate 3.8 to 4.6

tons of separated plutonium fromits ower reactors. Its fast


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Estimates about the size of thearsenal are based on the powercapacity of the nuclear reactornear Dimona. Experts estimatethat Israels current nuclear forceranges from 6080 weapons at thelow end to over 400 at the highend. The most frequently citedfigure is 100200 warheads. It isassumed that Israel has a triad ofdelivery systems: land, air, andsea. It is estimated that by theend of 2003, Israel could haveproduced approximately 510650kg of weapons-grade plutonium.Estimates of HEU production areeven more difficult to makethough public informationsuggests Israel has an uraniumenrichment programme.


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Neuclear Weapons