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Article: U.S. nuclear forces, 2005.(NRDC Nuclear Notebook)
- Article from:
- Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
- Article date:
- January 1, 2005
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2005 Educational Foundation for Nuclear Science, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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WE ESTIMATE THAT AS OF JANUARY 2005 there are approximately 5,300 operational nuclear warheads in the U.S. stockpile, including 4,530 strategic warheads and 780 non-strategic warheads. Almost 5,000 additional warheads have been retained in the "responsive reserve force" or are in an inactive status with their tritium removed.
In June 2004, the Energy Department announced that "almost half" of the warheads in the current stockpile would be retired by 2012 and eventually dismantled. We estimate that the current total stockpile of 10,350 will be reduced to about 6,000 by 2012.
The Pentagon continues to implement its 2001 Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) and ...