US declassifies data on its nuclear stockpile

Washington has 3,748 active and inactive warheads, with 2,000 more awaiting dismantlement, according to a newly released document

The US had 3,748 warheads in its nuclear stockpile as of September 2023, new government data shows

The US has declassified data on its nuclear stockpile, which consisted of 3,748 warheads as of September 2023, according to a new document released by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) on Friday.

The NNSA fact sheet indicated that the size of the stockpile remained almost the same compared to 2021, when the previous document of this type was released to the public. Washington said the country had 3,750 warheads as of September 2020. The statistics include both active and inactive warheads, but not those that have been retired.

The agency noted that between 1994 and 2023, the US dismantled 12,088 nuclear warheads, 405 of which were dismantled between 2020 and 2023, and “approximately 2,000 additional nuclear warheads are currently retired and awaiting dismantlement.”

The NNSA noted that the current number is a drastic decrease from 1967, when the stockpile peaked at 31,255 warheads.

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According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), as of 2024, the US remains the second-largest nuclear power in the world with a total inventory of 5,044 warheads. Russia is the largest with 5,580 warheads, the data shows.

The number of American nuclear warheads began a steady decline at the height of the Cold War as Washington and Moscow engaged in productive arms control talks. While dialogue has stalled as US-Russia relations have soured, due in part to the Ukraine conflict, the two powers remain committed to the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (New START), which limits deployed nuclear weapons to 1,550 each.

Nevertheless, a SIPRI report in June warned that the world is in “one of the most dangerous periods in human history,” as global powers continue to boost and modernize their atomic arsenals. The researchers noted that tensions over Ukraine and Gaza played a key role in weakening global nuclear diplomacy.