Nuclear weapons at a glance

Nuclear weapons today

Quotable notables

“By far the single greatest danger facing humankind — in fact, all living beings on our planet — is the threat of nuclear destruction.” —The Dalai Lama

“In a nuclear war there would be no victors, only victims. The truth of peace requires that all ... strive for a progressive and concerted nuclear disarmament.” —Benedict XVI

“A nuclear disaster will not hit at the speed of a glacier melting; it will hit with a blast. It will not hit with the speed of the atmosphere warming but of a city burning. Clearly, the attention focused on nuclear weapons should be as prominent as that of global climate change.” —Arnold Schwarzenegger

There are approximately 23,300 nuclear weapons in the world today, posing a direct and constant threat to global security and human survival. Thousands are kept on hair-trigger alert — ready to be launched within minutes. They divert funds from health care, education and other services. The United States alone spends enough on its nuclear weapons — more than $US40 billion a year — to end world poverty by 2030.

Unless we get rid of all nuclear weapons, it is likely that they will be used again — intentionally or by accident — and the effects would be catastrophic. The two nuclear bombs dropped on Japan in 1945 killed hundreds of thousands of innocent people. We must not risk nuclear weapons being used again.

Today nine countries have nuclear weapons, and five more have US nuclear weapons on their soil. The overwhelming majority of the world’s people and governments want them abolished, and there is a legal obligation to negotiate a ban. ICAN is helping to generate a groundswell of popular support for the abolition of nuclear weapons.

Landmines, chemical weapons and biological weapons have already been outlawed. It is past time we banned the worst weapons of all. The good news is that it can be done. Nuclear weapons stockpiles have gone from some 70,000 warheads at the height of the Cold War to 23,300. All that is stopping us from eliminating the rest is lack of political will.

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Countries with nuclear weapons

United States

9400 nuclear weapons

The United States is the only country to have used nuclear weapons in war. Several thousand of its 9400 nuclear weapons are kept on hair-trigger alert — ready to be launched within minutes.

Russia

13,000 nuclear weapons

Russia has the largest nuclear arsenal of any country in the world, consisting of some 13,000 warheads. Many are on hair-trigger alert, while about 5000 are awaiting dismantlement.

United Kingdom

160 nuclear weapons

The United Kingdom’s 160 or so nuclear weapons are all submarine-based. At any given time, one such submarine is on patrol. The service life for these vessels will soon end, presenting an ideal opportunity for the UK to show leadership and disarm.
France

300 nuclear weapons

Most of France’s 300 nuclear weapons are submarine-based. The government has threatened to use them against states found to be supporting terrorism against France.

China

186 nuclear weapons

China has an arsenal of roughly 186 nuclear weapons and has said it would use them only in response to a nuclear attack.

Israel

80 nuclear weapons

Israel will officially neither confirm nor deny that it has nuclear weapons, and little is publicly known about the size and composition of its arsenal. It’s the only nuclear-armed country in the Middle East.
India

60-70 nuclear weapons

India has roughly 60 to 70 nuclear weapons and has said it would use them in retaliation for an attack involving any kind of weapons of mass destruction.

Pakistan

60 nuclear weapons

Pakistan, which borders India, has a stockpile thought to consist of about 60 nuclear warheads. It has said it would be willing to use nuclear weapons in response to an attack involving conventional weapons.

North Korea

10 nuclear weapons

The newest member of the nuclear club, North Korea has no more than 10 “small” nuclear warheads.

Note: all of the figures are estimates only. They are taken from the SIPRI Yearbook 2009.

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Myths and reality

1

Nuclear weapons are no worse than other weapons

Nuclear weapons are the only weapons capable of destroying the entire planet in a matter of hours. A single nuclear bomb, if dropped on a city, could kill millions of people.

2

Nuclear weapons no longer pose any real threat

There are still 23,300 nuclear weapons worldwide. Each directly threatens global security and human survival, and thousands are ready to be launched within minutes of an order.

3

It’s OK for some countries to have nuclear weapons

No country can be trusted with nuclear weapons. And so long as any country has them, others will want them. Nuclear weapons threaten rather than enhance security.

4

It’s unlikely that nuclear weapons will be used again

Unless we get rid of all nuclear weapons, they will be used again — intentionally or by accident — and the effect will be catastrophic. Abolition is necessary and achievable.

5

Nuclear weapons are a deterrent to terrorists

Terrorist groups and suicide bombers are not rational and cannot be deterred by counter-threats. Further, nations with nuclear weapons are the most attractive targets for terrorists.

6

Nuclear weapons can be used legitimately

Any use of nuclear weapons would kill indiscriminately. It would cause long-term and widespread human and environmental harm through radioactive fallout.

7

People don’t care about nuclear disarmament

Recent opinion polls show that the overwhelming majority of people across the globe believe that nuclear weapons should be banned and eliminated without further delay.

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Good and bad news

Good news

Bad news
  • There are fewer nuclear weapons today than during the Cold War: more than 40,000 have been dismantled.
  • Most countries believe that nuclear weapons threaten rather than enhance their security, and that is why they have chosen not to pursue them.
  • Cooperation among nations has improved, including between the United States and Russia, which possess 95 per cent of all nuclear weapons in the world.
  • More countries than ever before are calling for a Nuclear Weapons Convention to ban nuclear weapons.
  • Most countries with nuclear weapons are modernizing their forces and expanding plans to use them.
  • Nine countries now have the bomb: the more fingers on the triggers, the more likely it is they will be used.
  • Many nuclear weapons systems have become old and faulty, increasing the risk of accidental use.
  • The spread of nuclear power means that many countries now have the know-how and means to create nuclear weapons.
  • Most of today’s nuclear weapons are much more powerful than the bombs dropped on Japan in 1945.

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Nuclear Weapons Convention

Stages
  1. Take nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert
  2. Remove nuclear weapons from deployment
  3. Remove the warheads from their delivery vehicles
  4. Disable the warheads by removing the explosive “pits”
  5. Place the fissile material under United Nations control.

A Nuclear Weapons Convention is a comprehensive treaty to ban nuclear weapons and ensure their elimination. Countries are legally required to negotiate such a treaty, and experts have already produced a draft text.

They argue that an NWC is more likely to succeed than a series of fragmented and inconsistent approaches to nuclear disarmament. The draft treaty is modelled on similar conventions outlawing chemical weapons, biological weapons and anti-personnel landmines.

It would complement rather than undermine existing nuclear weapons treaties, such as the Non-Proliferation Treaty and Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. It is feasible, necessary and long overdue. The NWC would prohibit the development, testing, production, stockpiling, transfer, use and threat of use of nuclear weapons, as well as the production of fissile material suitable for making them (either highly enriched uranium or separated plutonium).

It would require all nuclear-armed countries to destroy their nuclear weapons in stages, the last being to place all fissile material under international control to prevent nuclear weapons ever being made again. The NWC would establish an agency to ensure that countries comply with the terms of the treaty. This body would receive progress reports from nuclear-armed states, conduct inspections of weapons facilities, acquire intelligence through satellite photography and remote sensors, and monitor the production and transfer of materials suitable for making nuclear weapons.

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Why abolition is achievable

1

A majority of nations want nuclear weapons to be eliminated

 At least 135 countries — including China, India, Pakistan and North Korea — support the abolition of nuclear weapons through a binding Nuclear Weapons Convention.

2

There’s a draft convention to make abolition happen

 The Model NWC is a draft treaty that would ban the production, possession and use of nuclear weapons, as well as establish ways to verify their elimination.

3

We’ve already outlawed other categories of weapons

 These include chemical weapons, biological weapons and landmines. Now we must turn our attention to banning the worst weapons of all, nuclear weapons.

4

Four countries have given up their nuclear weapons

 South Africa was the first, followed by former Soviet states Kazakhstan, Belarus and Ukraine. More than a dozen other countries have abandoned nuclear weapons programs.

5

More and more people are calling for abolition

Many former political leaders have begun urging their governments to ban nuclear weapons, and some military chiefs have questioned the utility of these weapons of terror.

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Victims of the nuclear age

The only use of nuclear weapons in warfare occurred at the end of World War II, when the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. At least 145,000 innocent people died instantly, and a total of 210,000 had died by the end of 1945. Due to radiation, rates of cancer in survivors are still rising. The only way to guarantee that this doesn’t happen again is to abolish nuclear weapons.

Many thousands of people have also become sick and died because of the 2059 nuclear test explosions that have taken place since the first atomic bomb was created. The nuclear power and uranium mining industries also have many victims.

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Effects of a 1-megaton nuclear bomb

Within 3km

 A radioactive fireball hotter than the sun and with the force of one million tons of TNT kills and vaporizes everyone.

Within 5km

 The vast majority of people die quickly from blast injuries, asphyxiation in spreading fires or acute radiation sickness.

Within 10km

 About half die from trauma and burns. Many succumb soon after to fires and radiation. No medical care functions.

Within 20km

 Shattered windows and other flying debris can be lethal.

Within 80km

 Anyone looking at the blast is blinded. Over the following months and years, many tens of thousands will die from radiation sickness or later cancers.

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Quiz: true or false

  1. Several dozen countries currently possess nuclear weapons.
  2. The number of nuclear weapons worldwide is in the tens of thousands.
  3. Most countries that have acquired nuclear weapons have now given them up.
  4. There are more nuclear weapons today than at the height of the Cold War.
  5. Most nuclear weapons are in the arsenals of Russia and the United States.

Answers: 1) False; 2) True; 3) False; 4) False; 5) True

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