By TAKASHI OGAWA/ Staff Writer
June 7, 2024 at 16:02 JST
NAGASAKI--An anti-nuclear weapon institute here reported that while the overall number of nuclear warheads decreased over the past year, the number of active warheads increased.
The Nagasaki University Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition (RECNA) announced on June 5 that the estimated number of nuclear warheads held by the nine nuclear nations totaled 12,120, including those retired from service or those scheduled to be dismantled.
The number of warheads deployed and those stored but ready for deployment totaled 9,583, a 3.6 percent increase over the past six years.
RECNA changed the numbers of existing warheads that are prominently displayed on a poster it releases annually to those for active warheads for the 2024 release.
RECNA estimated the number of nuclear warheads held by each nation as of June 1, based on the materials that each nuclear nation disclosed.
As for the United States, which had 5,044, and Russia with 5,580, the number decreased from last year.
However, the number increased for three nations: China, 500, India, 170, and North Korea, 50.
In analyzing the numbers, RECNA said that although the overall number of nuclear warheads is decreasing, those are being replaced by new ones of a higher quality, becoming “more usable nuclear weapons.”
“Under the guise of modernization, the actual situation is that nuclear nations are building up their nuclear arsenals,” said Keiko Nakamura, a Nagasaki University associate professor.
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Nagasaki University’s Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition (RECNA) releases its 2024 poster showing the number of nuclear warheads in the world. (Provided by RECNA)
