(Trends Wide) — In a drastic change from the Trump administration, the State Department on Tuesday revealed the number of nuclear weapons in the U.S. arsenal for the first time in four years.
The United States has 3,750 nuclear warheads in its arsenal and 2,000 are waiting to be dismantled, according to a statement from the State Department, which highlighted the importance of transparency.
The publication of the fact sheet “Transparency in the US nuclear weapons arsenal” It comes at a time when the Biden administration is conducting a review of its nuclear weapons policy and capabilities ahead of the 2022 meeting of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty conference, in which the United States. and other nuclear powers that are parties to the treaty will review the disarmament commitments of each of the members.
“Increasing the transparency of States’ nuclear arsenals is important to non-proliferation and disarmament efforts, including commitments under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and efforts to address all types of nuclear weapons, including deployed weapons and undeployed, and tactical and strategic, “the State Department said.
During the 2020 presidential campaign, then-candidate Joe Biden said the United States does not need new nuclear weapons and that his “administration will work to maintain a strong and credible deterrent while reducing our dependence on and overspending on nuclear weapons.”
However, after Biden’s first budget request, critics lashed out at the president for proposing to continue all parts of the spending plans left by the Trump administration, including “the controversial additions made by President Trump to the program of the Obama era, as additional and more usable low-yield nuclear capabilities, “said the Arms Control Association (ACA).
The ACA called Biden’s budget request inconsistent with his “stated desire to reduce the role of nuclear weapons in US policy and to pursue new arms control and risk reduction agreements with Russia and possibly China.” .
In Tuesday’s statement, the State Department said there are 3,750 nuclear warheads in the US nuclear arsenal as of September 2020, a decrease of 88% from its peak number of 31,255 in 1967, according to the department.
The United States has also dismantled 11,683 nuclear warheads from 1994 to 2020, including 711 nuclear warheads since September 30, 2017. Two thousand nuclear warheads are retired and awaiting dismantling, the department also said.
In 2010, the Obama administration revealed that the United States had 5,113 nuclear warheads in its arsenal as of September 30, 2009. According to data released in 2015, the United States had 4,717 nuclear warheads in its arsenal as of September 2014.
