NPT Nuclear Weapons State

Arsenal Size

Total Stockpile

• Approximately 5,000 warheads[1]
• Active or operational warheads: 2,150 (1,950 strategic, 200 non-strategic warheads deployed in Europe)[2]
• Inactive warheads: approximately 2,800 [3]

Retired intact warheads awaiting dismantlement: Approximately 3,000[4]

Key Weapon Systems

Strategic

• 400 ICBMs (Minuteman III/ MK 12 A, MK 21/SERV)[5]
• 288 SLBMs (Trident II D5/ MK-4, MK-4A, MK-5)[6]
• 60 Strategic bombers (B-52H Stratofortress, B2A Spirit)[7]

Non-strategic

• Tomahawk SLCM (in the process of being retired), B61 bombs[8]

Estimated Destructive Force

• Operational warheads: approximately 570 megatons [9]

Military Fissile Material Stockpile

• Military stockpile of plutonium: 38mt (declared military excess: 54mt; total stockpile: 92mt)[10]
• Highly Enriched Uranium (HEU): 263mt[11]

Disarmament and Commitments to Reduce Arsenal Size

• Legal obligation to pursue global disarmament under Article VI of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).[12]
• Under the New START treaty that entered into force on 5 February 2011, the United States and Russia agreed to reduce their deployed strategic warheads to no more than 1,550 each; to deploy no more than 700 ICBMs, SLBMs and heavy bombers; and to limit ICBM launchers, SLBM launchers and heavy bombers to no more than 800 whether deployed or not.[13] Once the reductions are completed, the U.S. and Russian strategic nuclear arsenal will be at its smallest since the 1950s.[14]
• Dismantled 8,746 nuclear warheads from FY 1994 through 2009.[15]
• Reduced by 84% the largest U.S. stockpile of 31,255 warheads in 1967 to the current stockpile of 5,000 operational and reserved warheads.[16]
• Dismantled more than 13,000 warheads since 1988. [17]
• Reduced operationally-deployed strategic nuclear weapons from approximately 10,000 in 1991 to  1,800 as of 5 February 2011.[18]
• Unilaterally reduced non-strategic warheads by 90% from 1967 to 2009. [19]
• Eliminated more than 1,000 launchers for strategic ballistic missiles, 350 heavy bombers and 28 ballistic missile submarines.[20]
• Completed W79 Artillery-Fired Atomic Projectile dismantlement in 2003.[21]
• Completed W56 warhead dismantlement in 2006.[22]
• Removed 374 tons of highly enriched uranium and almost 61.5 tons of plutonium from the weapons inventory.[23]
• U.S. and Russia brought the Plutonium Management and Disposition Agreement into force on 11 July 2011, requiring each country to eliminate 34 metric tons of excess weapons-grade plutonium.[24]

Future Commitments

• Washington has expressed support for a nuclear-free world, but has also committed to maintaining an arsenal for deterrence and defense as long as nuclear weapons exist.[25]
• The United States is seeking a new treaty to verifiably end the production of fissile materials for use in nuclear weapons.[26]
• The United States plans to pursue discussions with Russia on reducing  strategic, non-strategic, deployed, and non-deployed nuclear weapons.[27]
• The P5 (NPT NWS) have been meeting annually since 2009 to review the progress toward the fulfillment of their NPT Article VI obligation of nuclear disarmament.[28]

Nuclear Weapons Policy

Nuclear Testing

• Observed nuclear testing moratorium since 1992.[29]
• Signed the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) in 1996.[30]
• Under the Obama Administration, pledged that the United States will pursue ratification of the CTBT.[31]
• Signed the PTBT in 1963 (banning nuclear tests in atmosphere, outer space, and under water).[32]

Use of Nuclear Weapons

• Will not use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against NPT Non-nuclear Weapon States (NNWS) that are in compliance with their nuclear nonproliferation obligations. (2010 U.S. Nuclear Posture Review)[33]
• Retains first-use option[34]
• Provides Negative Security Assurances to NWFZ treaty members: Committed not to use nuclear weapons against members of Tlatelolco NWFZ. Promised to ratify protocols to Rarotonga and Pelindaba treaties.[35] Ready to sign the protocol to the Southeast Asia NWFZ treaty, and prepared to consult with parties to the Central Asia NWFZ treaty.[36]
• Acknowledged the commitments of the NWS to negative security assurances in UN Security Council Resolution 984 (1995).[37]

Sources:
[1] Hans M. Kristensen and Robert S. Norris, "US Nuclear Forces, 2012," Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Volume 68 (3), 1 May 2012, www.thebulletin.org.
[2] Hans M. Kristensen and Robert S. Norris, "US Nuclear Forces, 2012," Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Volume 68 (3), 1 May 2012, www.thebulletin.org.
[3] Hans M. Kristensen and Robert S. Norris, "US Nuclear Forces, 2012," Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Volume 68 (3), 1 May 2012, www.thebulletin.org.
[4] Hans M. Kristensen and Robert S. Norris, "US Nuclear Forces, 2012," Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Volume 68 (3), 1 May 2012, www.thebulletin.org.
[5] Hans M. Kristensen and Robert S. Norris, "US Nuclear Forces, 2012," Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Volume 68 (3), 1 May 2012, www.thebulletin.org.
[6] Hans M. Kristensen and Robert S. Norris, "US Nuclear Forces, 2012," Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Volume 68 (3), 1 May 2012, www.thebulletin.org.
[7] Hans M. Kristensen and Robert S. Norris, "US Nuclear Forces, 2012," Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Volume 68 (3), 1 May 2012, www.thebulletin.org.
[8] Hans M. Kristensen and Robert S. Norris, "US Nuclear Forces, 2012," Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Volume 68 (3), 1 May 2012, www.thebulletin.org.
[9] Based on communication with Mr. Hans Kristensen. ICNND Report "Eliminating Nuclear Threats," says 647 megatons, www.icnnd.org.
[10] International Panel on Fissile Material, Global Fissile Material Report: 2011, www.fissilematerials.org.
[11] International Panel on Fissile Material, Global Fissile Material Report: 2011, www.fissilematerials.org.
[12] Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, U.S. Department of State, www.state.gov.
[13] Inventory of International Nonproliferation Organizations & Regimes, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, cns.miis.edu.
[14] Ambassador Laura Kennedy, U.S. Statement: Cluster 1, First Session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2015 NPT Review Conference, 3 May 2012, www.vienna.usmission.gov.
[15] Fact Sheet Increasing Transparency in the U.S. Nuclear Weapons Stockpile, U.S. Department of Defense, www.defense.gov.
[16] Fact Sheet Increasing Transparency in the U.S. Nuclear Weapons Stockpile, U.S. Department of Defense, www.defense.gov; Hans M. Kristensen and Robert S. Norris, "US Nuclear Forces, 2012," Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, Volume 68 (3), 1 May 2012, www.thebulletin.org.
[17] Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty: Promoting Disarmament, U.S. Department of State, www.state.gov.
[18] Note: the number of operational warheads in this statement is counted by New START standards, which count each bomber as one nuclear warhead although bombers can carry up to 20 warheads if loaded. Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty: Promoting Disarmament, Bureau of Public Affairs Fact Sheet, U.S. Department of State, 25 March 2011, www.state.gov; Hans M. Kristensen, "Second Batch of New START Data," Federation of American Scientists Strategic Security Blog, 1 June 2012, www.fas.org.
[19] Ambassador Laura Kennedy, U.S. Statement: Cluster 1, First Session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2015 NPT Review Conference, 3 May 2012, www.vienna.usmission.gov.
[20] Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty: Promoting Disarmament, U.S. Department of State, www.state.gov.
[21] Bryan Wilkes, "NNSA Dismantles Last Nuclear Artillery Shell," National Nuclear Security Administration, U.S. Department of Energy, 12 December 2003, www.nnsa.energy.gov.
[22] Press Release "NNSA Dismantles Entire Stock of W56 Nuclear Weapons," National Nuclear Security Administration, 29 June 2006, www.nnsa.energy.gov.
[23] Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty: Promoting Disarmament, U.S. Department of State, www.state.gov.
[24] Ambassador Laura Kennedy, U.S. Statement: Cluster 1, First Session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2015 NPT Review Conference, 3 May 2012, www.vienna.usmission.gov.
[25] Remarks by President Barack Obama, Prague, Czech Republic, 5 April 2009, www.whitehouse.gov.
[26]U.S. Secretary of State Hilary Clinton's Statement at the 2010 NPT Review Conference, 3 May 2010, www.reachingcriticalwill.org.
[27] Ambassador Laura Kennedy, U.S. Statement: Cluster 1, First Session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2015 NPT Review Conference, 3 May 2012, www.vienna.usmission.gov.
[28] Rose Gottemoeller, "Moving the Prague Agenda Forward," speech at the Arms Control Association Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., 4 June 2012, www.geneva.usmission.gov.
[29] "Nuclear Testing," Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), www.ctbto.org
[30] "Status of Signature and Ratification," Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), www.ctbto.org.
[31] Remarks by President Barack Obama, Prague, Czech Republic, 5 April 2009, www.whitehouse.gov.
[32] Inventory of International Nonproliferation Organizations & Regimes, James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, cns.miis.edu.
[33] . Nuclear Posture Review Report, U.S. Department of Defense, April 2010, www.defense.gov.
[34] Nuclear Posture Review Report, U.S. Department of Defense, April 2010, www.defense.gov.
[35] Ambassador Laura Kennedy, U.S. Statement: Nuclear Disarmament and Security Assurances, First Session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2015 NPT Review Conference, 4 May 2012, www.vienna.usmission.gov.
[36] Ambassador Laura Kennedy, U.S. Statement: Nuclear Disarmament and Security Assurances, First Session of the Preparatory Committee for the 2015 NPT Review Conference, 4 May 2012, www.vienna.usmission.gov.
[37] International Organizations and Nonproliferation Program (IONP), "Nuclear-Weapon-Free-Zone (NWFZ) Clearinghouse," James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, www.cns.miis.edu.