September, 2001
Number of nuclear weapons in the world: 30,000 *
8 countries (US, Russia, China, Great Britain, France, Pakistan, India and Israel) posses nuclear weapons. Several thousand of these weapons can still reach the US within 30 minutes of launch.
Number of countries capable of developing nuclear weapons: 44
44 countries have access to the fissile material and technology to build nuclear weapons. With the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty jeopardized, nuclear weapons could quickly spread.
Pounds of existing Russian weapons-grade fissile material: 2,360,000*
Much of this material is vulnerable to theft or diversion by potential terrorists or hostile organizations.
Pounds of fissile material necessary to build a crude nuclear bomb: 50
As little as 50 pounds of plutonium is needed to build a bomb. A missile is not needed to deliver such a device; a tugboat or truck could be used.
Casualties of a crude nuclear bomb attack on San Francisco: 60,000-400,000
Top military experts predict that a nuclear device will explode in a major US city in the next five years if more is not done to prevent it.
Number of accidents, false alarms, and malfunctions involving nuclear weapons according to the US Dept. of Defense: 563
Several of the accidents put us on the brink of accidental nuclear war.
Dollars the US spends per day on maintaining its nuclear arsenal: $100 Million
In comparison, the International Atomic Energy Agency spends only $100 million per year to safeguard nuclear materials worldwide.
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*Estimated. For sources, please see below.
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Sources:
Number of nuclear weapons
Source: “Global Nuclear Stockpiles” by William M. Arkin and Robert S. Norris, NRDC Nuclear Notebook, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (November-December 1997), p. 67. (Updated)
Nuclear Capable Countries
The number of nuclear capable states is frequently cited at 44, since the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty cannot go into effect until it is ratified by the 44 states with nuclear power plants (as of June 1996). The treaty provides this list in annex 2: http://www.state.gov/www/global/arms/treaties/ctbt/ctbt-annex2.html
Estimated pounds of Russian material
Bunn, Matthew, and John P. Holdren. “Managing Military Uranium and Plutonium in the United States and the Former Soviet Union: Current Security Challenges.” Annual Review of Energy and the Environment 22 (1997): 403-486.
Available online: http://ksgnotes1.harvard.edu/BCSIA/Library.nsf/pubs/mmup4
Pounds of fissile material to build a crude nuclear bomb
These figures depend upon whether plutonium or uranium is used, upon the purity of the materials, and the design of the bomb. For details, see http://www.nci.org/k-m/makeab.htm
Estimated casualties if a crude nuclear bomb were detonated in San Francisco
International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War: Crude Nuclear Weapons: Proliferation and the Terrorist Threat
http://www.ippnw.org/NukeTerrorism04.html
Accidents, false alarms, malfunctions
“According to a General Accounting Office (GAO) report entitled Navy Nuclear Weapons Safeguards and Nuclear Weapon Accident Emergency Planning, a total of 563 nuclear weapon incidents were reported by the Navy between 1965-1983”. In 1980, the US Department of Defense (DoD) released a list, considered a conservative estimate, that catalogued 32 serious nuclear accidents between 1950-1980.
Source: US NUCLEAR WEAPONS ACCIDENTS by Jaya Tiwari and Cleve J. Gray http://www.cdi.org/Issues/NukeAccidents/accidents.htm
Dollars spent, per day, to maintain US Nuclear Arsenals
US nuclear spending: http://www.brook.edu/dybdocroot/fp/projects/nucwcost/curspend.htm
IAEA Budget
http://www.nti.org/d_newswire/issues/2002/4/16/4s.html