Transcript 9 Countries In the Nuclear Weapons Club

Mikheeva Y., MO-08-01
Many historians argue that the bombings
in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were a turning
point in mankind's history, events that marked
the beginning of humanity's ability to instantly
self-annihilate. After the United States had its
first successful nuclear test in 1945, the
nuclear club was soon expanded to include
tests by the Soviet Union (1949), the
United Kingdom (1952), France (1960),
China (1964), India (1974), Pakistan (1998),
and North Korea (2006).
As of today, there are nine countries
generally recognized to own nuclear
weapons, with Iran actively seeking
to join this group. In order of the
estimated size of the nuclear
arsenal, from largest to smallest,
are: Russia, the United States,
France,
China,
the
United
Kingdom, Pakistan, India, Israel
and North Korea.
While these nine countries are generally
recognized as owning nuclear weapons,
that doesn't mean that they are the only
countries that possess nuclear weapons.
Countries that are not officially recognized
as being part of the nuclear club, such as
Belgium, Germany, Italy, Turkey and the
Netherlands, deploy and store American
nuclear weapons as part of NATO
agreements. Other non-nuclear countries
such as South Korea, Canada and Greece
previously had similar arrangements with
the United States.
The American nuclear stockpile peaked
in volume in 1966 and has been
dramatically reduced since then. A total
of around 67,500 nuclear weapons had
been developed by the United States
but currently there are only about 8,500
due to dismantling programs. The
Russian arsenal is also currently about
one-third of the level of its all-time peak
volume.
Howard Steven Friedman Statistician/Economist for
International Organization, Columbia University.
Posted: 01/09/12
Comparison of the USSR/RF & the
US stockpile of nuclear weapons
Nuclear Status of the Countries