United States Discloses Size of Nuclear Weapons Stockpile

The Obama administration has declassified the history and size of the U.S. nuclear weapons Stockpile，一个长期以来的国家机密。单击图像以获取情况说明书。

By Hans M. Kristensen

The Obama administration has formally公开国防部的核武器库存规模：截至2009年9月30日，有5113枚弹头。

对于一个国家机密，我们很高兴库存数量仅是87个弹头，我们made in February 2009。现在,库存可能是只是一个bove 5,000 warheads.

该披露是朝着更大的核透明度迈出的巨大一步，与过时的冷战核保密破坏，并将对其他核武器国家施加巨大压力。

库存披露，以及快速减少运营部署的弹头昨天公开了, the Obama administration is significantly strengthening the U.S. position at the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) Review Conference.

Progress toward deep nuclear cuts and eventual nuclear disarmament would have been very difficult without disclosing the inventory of nuclear weapons.

fasand others have long advocated disclosure and argued that keeping the size of the nuclear arsenal secret serves no real national security purpose in the post-Cold War era. Now that the size of the nuclear stockpile is no longer a secret, that dismantlement numbers are no longer secret, and the number of deployed strategic warheads is no longer a secret, the United States should also disclose the total number of strategic and non-strategic weapons in the stockpile.

Stockpile History and Forecast

When the Bush administration took office in 2001, the stockpile included 10,526 warheads. In June 2004, the NNSA announced a decision to cut the 2001 stockpile “nearly in half” by 2012. That goal was achieved five years early in December 2007, at which point the White House announced an additional cut of 15 percent by 2012. Once these reductions are completed, the stockpile will include approximately 4,600 warheads, a force level last seen in 1956.

fas/NRDC Estimate for the US Stockpile 1945-2010

与今天早些时候五角大楼披露的5,113枚弹头库存相比，FAS/NRDC估计是13枚弹头。该图表显示了我们的库存估算以及我们对1945 - 2010年部署战略弹头数量的估计。

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The Obama administration has not yet announced a decision to further reduce the nuclear stockpile, but there are several hints in the Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) that it intends to reduce the stockpile further. The NPR states that the United States will be “significantly reducing the size of the technical hedge overall,” a reference to the thousands of non-deployed but intact warheads kept in storage for potential upload back unto missiles and bombers in case of Russia or China building up and to replace warheads that develop technical problems.

NPR还指出，等待拆除的弹头数量“随着武器在新开始下从库存中删除，将增加。”由于新起点不需要从库存中删除武器（仅从战略运输车辆中），这也是对进一步减少库存的参考。一位高级官员告诉我，其中一些减少将很快进行。

但是，NPR承诺的“核库存的重大减少”似乎是为了“实施库存管理计划和核基础设施投资……”。如果国会批准了这些投资，那么一些“对冲”弹头可以“与计划在未来十年中计划的其他库存减少一起退休”。

估计美国核武器清单，2010年

核储存只是美国总核武器库存的一部分。 We estimate the total number of assembled warheads is close to 9,600, probably a little less given ongoing dismantlement of retired warheads.

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Stockpile Warhead Categories

库存包含许多弹头子类别。总体类别有两个类别：主动和非活动。活跃类别包括两个子类别：在俄罗斯或中国建立或部署的弹头技术失败的情况下，在“响应力量”中以“响应力量”上载的“反应力”中的非部署弹头部署了弹头。不活动的类别包括长期存储中没有有限寿命组件（例如tritium）的弹头。

But since the stockpile is always in a flux with warheads being moved between platforms and maintenance, each of these subcategories have numerous other categories that relate to the readiness of the warheads. According to information obtained from the government, there are four readiness state (RS) categories related to warhead functions:

RS-A:可能用于战时就业的弹头。

RS-B：Warheads intended to be used for logistical purposes (e.g., LLC exchange (LLCE), repairs, surveillance, transportation, etc.).

RS-C：Warheads intended to be used for QUART replacement.

RS-D:Warheads intended to be used for reliability replacement.

还有五个与弹头位置有关的准备状态类别的维护要求：

RS-1：活跃的库存弹头旨在主要位于发射器或操作基地上。

RS-2：Active stockpile warheads intended to be located primarily at either an operational base or depot.

RS-3：Inactive stockpile warheads intended to be located primarily at a depot, have the LLCs removed as soon as logistically practical, require refurbishment, and require reliability and safety assessments.

RS-4:Inactive stockpile warheads intended to be located primarily at a depot, have the LLCs removed as soon as logistically practical, do NOT require refurbishment, but do require reliability and safety assessments.

RS-5:Inactive stockpile warheads intended to be located at a depot, have LCCs removed as soon as logistically practical, do NOT require refurbishment, do NOT require reliability assessments, but do require safety assessments.

其他国家

该披露造成了其他核武器国家的压力。现在，核武器国家不披露其核武库的规模，现在将被视为秘密，妨碍核透明度，并朝着深度切割和最终解除武装方面的进步。一些核国家给了球场数：

中国外交部宣布在2004年的一个情况说明书中，“中国的核武器国家中。。。拥有最小的核武库。”这暗示了少于200张可用的弹头，因为宣布by Britain in 1998. (See also the latest核笔记本在中国。）

Britain further宣布在2007年，它将“将最大可用的弹头数量从少于200减少到少于160”。这表明存在有限的非操作性弹头库存。

法国宣布in 2008 that its “arsenal will include fewer than 300 nuclear warheads” following a reduction of the bombers. French president Nicolas Sarkozyclaimed法国“是完全透明的，因为它旁边没有其他武器。”尽管如此，在“行动武器库”中，可能存在少数接受监视的备件或弹头。（另请参见最新核笔记本on France.)

俄罗斯has not, to my knowledge, disclosed anything about the size of its stockpile. (See latest核笔记本on Russia.)

拆除

The Pentagon also released warhead dismantlement numbers back to 1995. I’ll blog later on what that means.

This publication was made possible by a grant from Carnegie Corporation of New York and Ploughshares Fund. The statements made and views expressed are solely the responsibility of the author.