The US disclosed for the first time on Monday the current size of its nuclear arsenal, lifting the veil on once top-secret numbers in an effort to bolster non-proliferation efforts.
The Pentagon said it had a total of 5,113 warheads in its nuclear stockpile at the end of September, down 84 percent from a peak of 31,225 in 1967. The arsenal stood at 22,217 warheads when the Berlin Wall fell in 1989.
The figure includes warheads that are operationally deployed, kept in active reserve and held in inactive storage. It does not include “several thousand” warheads that are now retired and awaiting dismantlement, the Pentagon said.
“The United States is showing that it is being increasingly transparent,” a senior US defense official told reporters at the Pentagon. “It’s part of our commitment to set the stage for strength in non-proliferation and for further arms control.”
The official declined to offer the Pentagon’s estimate for Russia’s arsenal and renewed calls for greater transparency by China, saying there was “little visibility” when it came to Beijing’s nuclear program.
The US is also pushing for a new round of sanctions against Iran over its nuclear program.
By releasing the data during the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference, analysts said the US was trying to show it is cutting its arsenal so as to help persuade other states to tighten the global non-proliferation regime.
“It is hugely important for the United States to be able to say, ‘Look we are living up to our obligations under the NPT,’” said Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the Federation of American Scientists.
The disclosure comes less than a month after US President Barack Obama unveiled a new policy restricting the US’ use of nuclear weapons and signed a landmark arms reduction accord with Russia.
Obama, who won a Nobel Peace Prize in part for his vision of a nuclear free world, has also renounced the development of new atomic weapons.
Historically, the overall size of the arsenal has been kept secret to help prevent potential adversaries from using the information to more precisely neutralize US nuclear forces.
Still, analysts warned the disclosure could also negatively impact perceptions of the US — possibly dismaying other nations by demonstrating how many nuclear weapons it retains two decades after the Cold War ended.
“I think the states that are most concerned about nuclear disarmament will be more focused on the number that remain rather than the number [reduced],” said George Perkovich, director of the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
The Pentagon said from fiscal years 1994 through to last year, the US dismantled 8,748 nuclear warheads.
The Pentagon also declined to disclose the exact number of warheads awaiting dismantlement. It said more analysis needed to be done to make sure it did not impact US national security.
The US aims to dismantle those warheads by the early part of the next decade, another US official said, also briefing reporters on condition of anonymity.
The pledge by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to “work, work, work, work and work” for her country has been named the catchphrase of the year, recognizing the effort Japan’s first female leader had to make to reach the top. Takaichi uttered the phrase in October when she was elected as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Many were initially as worried about her work ethic as supportive of her enthusiasm. In a country notorious for long working hours, especially for working women who are also burdened with homemaking and caregiving, overwork is a sensitive topic. The recognition triggered a
Tropical Storm Koto killed three people and left another missing as it approached Vietnam, authorities said yesterday, as strong winds and high seas buffeted vessels off the country’s flood-hit central coast. Heavy rains have lashed Vietnam’s middle belt in recent weeks, flooding historic sites and popular holiday destinations, and causing hundreds of millions of dollars in damage. Authorities ordered boats to shore and diverted dozens of flights as Koto whipped up huge waves and dangerous winds, state media reported. Two vessels sank in the rough seas, a fishing boat in Khanh Hoa province and a smaller raft in Lam Dong, according to the
‘HEART IS ACHING’: Lee appeared to baffle many when he said he had never heard of six South Koreans being held in North Korea, drawing criticism from the families South Korean President Lee Jae-myung yesterday said he was weighing a possible apology to North Korea over suspicions that his ousted conservative predecessor intentionally sought to raise military tensions between the war-divided rivals in the buildup to his brief martial law declaration in December last year. Speaking to reporters on the first anniversary of imprisoned former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol’s ill-fated power grab, Lee — a liberal who won a snap presidential election following Yoon’s removal from office in April — stressed his desire to repair ties with Pyongyang. A special prosecutor last month indicted Yoon and two of his top
The Philippines deferred the awarding of a project that is part of a plan to build one of the world’s longest marine bridges after local opposition over the potential involvement of a Chinese company due to national security fears. The proposals are “undergoing thorough review” by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which acts as a lender and an overseer of the project to ensure it meets international environmental and governance standards, the Philippine Department of Public Works and Highways said in a statement on Monday in response to queries from Bloomberg. The agency said it would announce the winning bidder once ADB
RSS