US says it has 5,113 nuclear warheads

[Modbert]

US says it has 5,113 nuclear warheads - Yahoo! News

WASHINGTON – The United States has 5,113 nuclear warheads in its stockpile and "several thousand" more retired warheads awaiting the junkpile, the Pentagon said Monday in an unprecedented accounting of a secretive arsenal born in the Cold War and now shrinking rapidly.

The Obama administration disclosed the size of its atomic stockpile going back to 1962 as part of a campaign to get other nuclear nations to be more forthcoming, and to improve its bargaining position against the prospect of a nuclear Iran.

"We think it is in our national security interest to be as transparent as we can be about the nuclear program of the United States," Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told reporters at the United Nations, where she addressed a conference on containing the spread of atomic weapons.
The U.S. has previously regarded such details as top secret.

The figure includes both "strategic," or long-range weapons, and those intended for use at shorter range.

The Pentagon said the stockpile of 5,113 as of September 2009 represents a 75 percent reduction since 1989.

A rough count of deployed and reserve warheads has been known for years, so the Pentagon figures do not tell nuclear experts much they don't already know.

Hans Kristensen, director of Nuclear Information Project, Federation of American Scientists in Washington, said his organization had already put the number at around 5,100 by reviewing budget estimates and other documents

But the administration is not revealing everything.

The Pentagon figure released Monday includes deployed weapons, which are those more or less ready to launch, and reserve weapons. It does not include thousands of warheads that have been disabled or all but dismantled. Those weapons could, in theory, be reconstituted, or their nuclear material repurposed.

Thoughts?

 

[elvis]

have to widen the warhead gap.

 

[Zoom-boing]

5,113 nuclear warheads can still kick ass.

 

[Modbert]

5,113 nuclear warheads can still kick ass.

I can only imagine how many times we can blow up the world by ourselves over.

 

[xsited1]

US says it has 5,113 nuclear warheads - Yahoo! News

...
Thoughts?

The Cold War was a scary time. It's one thing to read about it in the history books, but quite another to live it. Now, of course, the US is imploding from within, but it was great while it lasted.

 

[uscitizen]

I recall the duck and cover drills in school.
LIke getting under your desk was going to help

 

[Dr.House]

Wonder why Barry felt the need to divulge this bit of info?

 

[uscitizen]

Because I told him to.

 

[uscitizen]

Standard nukes are so old fashioned and will contaminate the oil rich areas. Neutron bombs are much more efficient.

 

[blu]

I recall the duck and cover drills in school.
LIke getting under your desk was going to help

a real life 2 minutes of hate. some people who lived through it still haven't figured it out

 

[Dr.House]

Because I told him to.

Ahhh...

Pillow talk....

 

[hjmick]

Thoughts?

Better us than them...

 

[uscitizen]

It would have been 5,114, but we lost one.

 

[Modbert]

Better us than them...

Was just reminded of this song:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcG47CpsU6c]YouTube - Us and Them - Pink Floyd (Studio Version)[/ame]

 

[Baruch Menachem]

Standard nukes are so old fashioned and will contaminate the oil rich areas. Neutron bombs are much more efficient.

Ah, Neutron bombs were actually enhanced radiation devices.

I think you got that backwards.

I think the Reagan administration thought them a bad idea, and dumped them.

I wonder why they thought transparency on this would be a good idea. Their argument doesn't sound convincing.

 

[elvis]

Standard nukes are so old fashioned and will contaminate the oil rich areas. Neutron bombs are much more efficient.

Ah, Neutron bombs were actually enhanced radiation devices.

I think you got that backwards.

I think the Reagan administration thought them a bad idea, and dumped them.

I wonder why they thought transparency on this would be a good idea. Their argument doesn't sound convincing.

Now, neutron bombs kill all the people, but not the property, is that correct?

 

[blu]

Better us than them...

Was just reminded of this song:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vcG47CpsU6c]YouTube - Us and Them - Pink Floyd (Studio Version)[/ame]

instant rep & thanks for anything pink floyd

 

[uscitizen]

Standard nukes are so old fashioned and will contaminate the oil rich areas. Neutron bombs are much more efficient.

Ah, Neutron bombs were actually enhanced radiation devices.

I think you got that backwards.

I think the Reagan administration thought them a bad idea, and dumped them.

I wonder why they thought transparency on this would be a good idea. Their argument doesn't sound convincing.

Enhanced in the way that they killed living creatures and did not contaminate the area as much.

Do you really think we did not make nor have any neutron bombs?

 

[California Girl]

Has anyone explained the concept of 'national security' to this Administration? What a bunch of fucking morons.

 

[Modbert]

Has anyone explained the concept of 'national security' to this Administration? What a bunch of fucking morons.

Well, to make a point, they did not tell everything. And like I highlighted, none of this was new information to anyone paying attention for the last twenty years. If they were giving out locations, I might agree with you CG.

However, over 5,000 warheads can still do a lot of damage for anyone who chooses to fuck with us.