Frequently Asked Questions on Nuclear Weapons

Number of nuclear weapons held in world arsenals?
15,000^[1]

Portion of that arsenal that, if used in anger over cities, would cause a nuclear winter, devastate agriculture, crash civilization and starve up to 2 billion people?
100 weapons (or about one-half of one percent)^[2]

Number of nuclear weapons in the arsenals of just India and Pakistan (who have fought wars in 1947, 1965, 1971, and 1999, and continue to have a tense border?)
280^[3]

Number of times the French alone could use their nuclear arsenal to crash the global climate and civilization?
Three^{[4] [5]}

Number of nuclear warheads available to the U.S. and Russian presidents
6,500 and 6,800, respectively^[6]

Number of known incidents, during and after the Cold War, in which either Moscow or Washington were fully prepared to launch nuclear weapons based on a mistaken belief one side was attacking the other?
Six^[7]

Goal, in minutes, for time in which a U.S. president should decide whether to launch nuclear weapons if Pentagon believes we are under attack?
12 to 30 minutes^{[8] [9]}

Number of people the U.S. president must consult or convince before he can order a nuclear weapons attack?
Zero^[10]

Amount of spending the Pentagon plans for upgrading nuclear arsenals in coming years?
More than $1.5 trillion^[11]

Explosive power of the nuclear warhead Russia has armed on its new “Poseidon” underwater drone, which is designed to cause city-destroying radioactive tidal waves?
6,000 times more powerful than the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima^{[12] [13]}

Number of minutes the Doomsday Clock says we are from nuclear Armageddon?
2 minutes^[14]

Last time we were this close to nuclear self-annihilation, according to the clock?
1953 (and we’ve never been closer) ^[15]

Join the growing movement to step “Back from the Brink” at www.preventnuclearwar.org

[1] https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/Nuclearweaponswhohaswhat

[2] https://www.psr.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/two-billion-at-risk.pdf

[3] https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/Nuclearweaponswhohaswhat

[4] https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/Nuclearweaponswhohaswhat

[5] https://www.psr.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/two-billion-at-risk.pdf

[6] https://www.armscontrol.org/factsheets/Nuclearweaponswhohaswhat

[7] https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/attach/2015/04/Close%20Calls%20with%20Nuclear%20Weapons.pdf

[8] https://www.preventnuclearwar.org/end-hairtrigger-alert/

[9] http://lcnp.org/disarmament/opstatus-blair.htm