Ploughshares
August 2, 2024
  1. As of early 2024, nine countries controlled roughly 12,121 warheads. The United States and Russia control approximately 88 percent of all nuclear weapons in the world.
  2. As of early 2024, nine countries controlled roughly 12,121 warheads. The United States and Russia control approximately 88 percent of all nuclear weapons in the world.
  3. The United States plans to spend $494 billion on its nuclear forces over the next decade, or about $50 billion a year per the Congressional Budget Office report.
  4. While people may know about the first ever atomic test (The Trinity Test) in Nevada on July 16, 1945. The United States has conducted 1,054 nuclear tests in total, including 216 atmospheric, underwater, and space tests.
  5. In the event that a nuclear weapon were used today, even a single nuclear explosion over a city could instantly kill tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people.
  6. New START is the last nuclear arms control treaty left between the United States and Russia. If it expires in 2026 without an extension plan in place, there will be no limits on either United States or Russian nuclear arsenals for the first time since the end of the Cold War.
Global Nuclear Stockpile Map