Nuclear weapons of the United States

United States
Location of United States
Nuclear program start date21 October 1939
First nuclear weapon test16 July 1945
First thermonuclear weapon test1 November 1952
Last nuclear test23 September 1992[1]
Largest yield test15 Mt (63 PJ) (1 March 1954)
Total tests1,054 detonations
Peak stockpile31,255 warheads (1967)[2]
Current stockpile3,708 (2024)[3]
Maximum missile rangeICBM: 15,000 km (9,321 mi)
SLBM: 12,000 km (7,456 mi)
NPT partyYes (1968)
Nuclear weapons
Photograph of a mock-up of the Little Boy nuclear weapon dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, in August 1945.
Background
Nuclear-armed states
NPT recognized
United States
Russia
United Kingdom
France
China
Others
India
Israel (undeclared)
Pakistan
North Korea
Former
South Africa
Belarus
Kazakhstan
Ukraine

The United States was the first country to manufacture nuclear weapons and is the only country to have used them in combat, with the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II against Japan. Before and during the Cold War, it conducted 1,054 nuclear tests, and tested many long-range nuclear weapons delivery systems.[Note 1]

Between 1940 and 1996, the U.S. federal government spent at least US$11.3 trillion in present-day terms[5] on nuclear weapons, including platforms development (aircraft, rockets and facilities), command and control, maintenance, waste management and administrative costs.[6] It is estimated that the United States produced more than 70,000 nuclear warheads since 1945, more than all other nuclear weapon states combined.[7] Until November 1962, the vast majority of U.S. nuclear tests were above ground. After the acceptance of the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, all testing was relegated underground, in order to prevent the dispersion of nuclear fallout.[8]

By 1998, at least US$759 million had been paid to the Marshall Islanders in compensation for their exposure to U.S. nuclear testing.[9][10] By March 2021 over US$2.5 billion in compensation had been paid to U.S. citizens exposed to nuclear hazards as a result of the U.S. nuclear weapons program.[11]

In 2019, the U.S. and Russia possessed a comparable number of nuclear warheads; together, these two nations possess more than 90% of the world's nuclear weapons stockpile.[12][13] In 2024, it was estimated that the United States held 1,770 deployed warheads, 1,938 in reserve, and 1,336 retired and awaiting dismantlement, in total 5,044 nuclear warheads.[14] The projected costs for maintaining U.S. nuclear forces are $60 billion per year during the 2021–2030 period.[15]

  1. ^ "23 September 1992 – Last U.S. Nuclear Test". Testing Times. Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization. Retrieved 11 November 2017.
  2. ^ "Increasing Transparency in the U.S. Nuclear Weapons Stockpile" (PDF). Nuclear Posture Review (Fact Sheet). United States Department of Defense. 3 May 2010.
  3. ^ "Nuclear Notebook: United States nuclear weapons, 2024". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. 7 May 2024.
  4. ^ "Gallery of U.S. Nuclear Tests". The Nuclear Weapon Archive. 6 August 2001.
  5. ^ 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved 29 February 2024.
  6. ^ "Estimated Minimum Incurred Costs of U.S. Nuclear Weapons Programs, 1940–1996". Brookings Institution. Archived from the original on 4 October 2013. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  7. ^ Paine, Christopher E.; Cochran, Thomas B.; Norris, Robert S. (4 January 1996). "The Arsenals of the Nuclear Weapons Powers: An Overview" (PDF). Natural Resources Defense Council. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2013.
  8. ^ Gross, Daniel A. (2016). "An Aging Army". Distillations. 2 (1): 26–36. Retrieved 28 March 2022.
  9. ^ Cite error: The named reference Brookings was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  10. ^ "Radiation Exposure Compensation System Claims to Date Summary of Claims Received by 08/15/2013 All Claims" (PDF). United States Department of Justice. 16 August 2013. – updated regularly
  11. ^ Montoya Bryan, Susan (20 April 2021). "People downwind of atomic blasts renew push for US payout". AP NEWS. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  12. ^ Reichmann, Kelsey (16 June 2019). "Here's how many nuclear warheads exist, and which countries own them". Defense News. Retrieved 16 April 2021.
  13. ^ "Global Nuclear Arsenal Declines, But Future Cuts Uncertain Amid U.S.-Russia Tensions". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. 17 June 2019.
  14. ^ "United States nuclear weapons, 2024". Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists.
  15. ^ "Projected Costs of U.S. Nuclear Forces, 2021 to 2030". Congressional Budget Office. 24 May 2021.


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