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Which Countries Have Nuclear Weapons?

R. Anacan
R. Anacan

The United States detonated the first atomic bomb during a test in July 1945. Later that year, the U.S. used atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which hastened the end of World War II. While the United States was the first nation to have nuclear weapons, nuclear proliferation did not stop with the U.S. As of late 2009, there were nine nations that currently have or are thought to have nuclear weapons and one nation, Iran, which is widely thought to be developing its own nuclear weapons program.

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) became the first nation after the United States to have nuclear weapons. The USSR detonated its first atomic bomb during a test in 1949. The USSR’s nuclear weapons program further intensified the growing tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and inflamed the Cold War that existed between the two nations and their allies. With the dissolution of the USSR in 1991, the former Soviet Union’s vast arsenal of nuclear weapons became the possession of the Russian Federation.

The third nation to have nuclear weapons was the United Kingdom, which tested its first atomic bomb in 1952. After the United Kingdom, the next nation to develop nuclear weapons was France in 1960, followed by the People’s Republic of China in 1964.

The U.S., Russia, United Kingdom, France, and China are among the countries that have deployed nuclear weapons on submarines.
The U.S., Russia, United Kingdom, France, and China are among the countries that have deployed nuclear weapons on submarines.

These first five nations are known as nuclear weapon states, meaning these are nations that are internationally recognized and authorized to have nuclear weapons and have also signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) of 1968. The purpose of the Non-Proliferation Treaty was to prevent nations other than the recognized nuclear weapons states from developing and possessing nuclear weapons. The NPT also encouraged the five recognized nuclear powers to pursue a policy of reducing and eventually eliminating their nuclear weapons.

Several countries, including the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, France, India, Pakistan, and possibly Israel have nuclear weapons.
Several countries, including the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, France, India, Pakistan, and possibly Israel have nuclear weapons.

There are four additional nations that are either believed to possess or confirmed to have nuclear weapons but are not members of the Non-Proliferation Treaty. India detonated its first nuclear device in 1974. India’s neighbor Pakistan followed suit and developed its own nuclear weapon in 1998.

Israel is believed to have had nuclear weapons since the 1960’s, but has neither confirmed nor denied this. The Israeli government has repeatedly stated that it would not be the first nation to introduce nuclear weapons in the Middle East region. In spite of the Israeli government’s ambiguity, ample evidence exists that seems to indicate that Israel may possess the largest nuclear arsenal outside of the five nuclear weapon states.

Iran is believed to be developing a nuclear weapons program.
Iran is believed to be developing a nuclear weapons program.

The People’s Republic of Korea, or North Korea, announced that it had developed a nuclear device in 2006. The government of North Korea claims to have detonated nuclear weapons in underground tests in October 2006 and in May 2009 and evidence seems to support these claims. North Korea was a signer and member nation of the Non-Proliferation Treaty but withdrew from the NPT in 2003.

Discussion Comments

anon252419

Say the truth. The truth is mad dog science people created nuclear bombs. That means all nations want nuclear bombs. They will get them.

So now we have to live with it. The United Nations will

now have more paper work to have signed. I only

hope no nation will press the the launch trigger!

arod2b42

Many are unaware that since the Cold War, the world has been in a perpetual state of uncertainty. We really don't know when the world could be effectively ended by a nuclear fallout. It could realistically happen at any moment, due to the radical policy of any armed nation. In my view, the world will either eventually be united or destroy itself. I am hopeful that the former choice will occur.

GigaGold

Why do countries have nuclear weapons? It could be argued that it is a matter of paranoia, but more likely it is due to a realistic escalation and policy of brinkmanship among superpowers. It is difficult to judge the nature of a country's politics, and even more difficult to foresee how the politics of two separate nations will interact, leading to war or peace in the roll of a die. During the Cold War, there was a very clear conflict of interest on the part of the US and USSR. The solution for peace was making a deal with the devil: the free-radical of Mao's China. With Mao feeling more inclined to agreements and friendly talks with the US than with the USSR, the USSR was isolated.

BioNerd

@Qohe1et

This sounds kind of like conspiracy theory and rhetoric of fear to me. I sense that the world seems to be seeking a general disarmament and mutual non-proliferation agreement. As nations progress to become economically interdependent, they will begin to realize more and more how self-destructive possession of nuclear arms can be, and how much each nation needs the others.

Qohe1et

I wouldn't be surprised if a large percentage of Eurasian nations owned nuclear weapons. There are likely more nuclear weapons in the world than the public is aware of. The Russian black market permeates various levels of societies all over the world, and it is believed they deal in nuclear arms and are like the Italian mafia on steroids and without any code of honor. A code of horror would be more apt.

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    • The U.S., Russia, United Kingdom, France, and China are among the countries that have deployed nuclear weapons on submarines.
      By: iruhsa
      The U.S., Russia, United Kingdom, France, and China are among the countries that have deployed nuclear weapons on submarines.
    • Several countries, including the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, France, India, Pakistan, and possibly Israel have nuclear weapons.
      By: The Official CTBTO Photostream
      Several countries, including the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, France, India, Pakistan, and possibly Israel have nuclear weapons.
    • Iran is believed to be developing a nuclear weapons program.
      By: www.doglikehorse.com
      Iran is believed to be developing a nuclear weapons program.
    • The Middle Eastern country of Israel is believed to have possessed nuclear weapons since the 1960s.
      By: www.doglikehorse.com
      The Middle Eastern country of Israel is believed to have possessed nuclear weapons since the 1960s.
    • Nuclear weapons proliferation is a concern for many countries around the world.
      By: Goran Bogicevic
      Nuclear weapons proliferation is a concern for many countries around the world.
    • The USSR detonated its first atomic bomb under Joseph Stalin's dictatorship.
      By: Alexander Micheichev
      The USSR detonated its first atomic bomb under Joseph Stalin's dictatorship.