Who Are The Nuclear Nations? (List of Countries)

This hub is not intended to be an intellectual or political debate about the tension and conflict in the world caused by the existence of nuclear deterrents, it is simply a quick guide to which countries possess nuclear war capabilities, in what form those nuclear weapons take, and in some cases details of previous nuclear testing; naturally this does not relate in any way to countries using nuclear as a source of power supply. There are no conspiracy theories, just a list of the known Nuclear countries. Where appropriate, I have also mentioned nuclear arsenal that countries are believe to possess but which have not been officially declared. These countries are generally known as the 'Nuclear Club', these statistics are courtesy of the Natural Resources Defense Council.

Russia are the largest Nuclear weapon state in the world, with some 13000 nuclear weapons - 4840 of which are are active warheads. Russia declared their arsenal of 28000 tons of weapons of mass destruction in 2008. Their stockpile includes 489 land based missiles which can be deployed through silos or by mobile delivery system. In addition Russia has a fleet of 12 submarines carrying 609 deployed warheads. From aviation they have the capabilities that stretch to 924 cruise missiles from 258 seperate bombers. Russia is still active in the development and production of new nuclear weapons

The United States was the first country to develop and build nuclear weapons, and remains the only country to ever use them as a means of destruction; this was of course the two bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in World War II, the USA also conducted over 1000 nuclear tests before and during the 'Cold War', an action which has no doubt destroyed an astonishing number of ecological systems. The 'Atomic Bomb' in Hiroshima serves as a memory of the pure destruction that nuclear weapons create, and will hopefully be enough evidence to ensure that these weapons are not resorted to again. The United States follows Russia as the second largest Nuclear State with some 2700 active weapons, like Russia the USA is still actively designing and developing further Nuclear weapons. The two separate Japan incidents killed some 250,000 people immediately and thousands more through radiation related illnesses including cancer have died since.

France: French Nuclear Weapons

The world's third largest Nuclear Nation is France which possesses 300 active weapons of mass destruction, following development throughout the 1960's. The objective of adopting nuclear capabilities was to enable the country to remain independent from NATO whilst also having sufficient deterrents to ensure that the countries occupation by foreign forces would never occur again; particularly due to the country still be affected by the aftermath of WWII. There has been some controversy surrounding the country possessing these capabilities, particular surrounding its relatively recent testing. The most prominent of these controversies came in 1985 when the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior was bombed and sunk by the French military as it prepared for another round of testing. A further controversy followed in 1995 when the French president Jacques Chirac decided to run a series of nuclear tests just one year before the 'Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty' was due to be signed, this resulted in worldwide protest with many countries even deciding to place a trade embargo on French Wine.

The UK is believed to possess around 160 nuclear weapons, a little more than China, making the country the fourth largest of the Nuclear Nations. Since 1958 the UK and the US have cooperated with each other in the exchange of classified scientific information in relation to nuclear technology, meaning that they effectively work as a team in the development of their defence capabilities. As part of the agreement, the British are unable to pass on any US information without seeking prior permission. The United Kingdom, unlike the other Nuclear Nations, operates just one nuclear deterrent system - operating from 4 top of the range submarines, each of which are armed with 16 Trident missiles. This makes the UK the only one of the 5 nations not to possess nuclear abilities from aviation. The British nuclear arsenal is expected to be reduced to 3 from 4 submarines in the near future.

China: Nuclear Weapons

China is believed to possess just 150 active nuclear warheads, although this is of course enough to cause chaos - it pales into insignificant in relation to the stockpiles of Russia and the USA. Reports about the exact nature of these weapons are very inconsistent, suggesting that China is very secretive with this information; although the US government believes that China has about 20 intercontinental ballistic missiles which are capable of reaching the United States. The Chinese are the only nation from the five nuclear weapon states to give assurances to non-nuclear states, stating:- "China undertakes not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against non-nuclear-weapon states or nuclear-weapon-free zones at any time or under any circumstances." Meaning that the USA, UK, France and Russia all appear prepared to use nuclear weapons on countries with no means of retaliation. China also maintains to its people that it would never use a nuclear weapon before another country, thus guaranteeing that it will never be the aggressor in any future nuclear war - again, the other states seem reluctant to provide this guarantee.

The spread of nuclear weapons does not end there, in addition to the 5 states above, there are also three other states that have never signed the 'Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty' who each have nuclear capabilities. These are as follows:-

India

India has never made an announcement about the size of its nuclear arsenal, however it is believed to possess between 50 and 90 active nuclear warheads. The country does not currently have a nuclear submarine like the 5 nuclear states, however it hopes to add an operational submarine by 2012. It is currently also in talks with Russia about leasing two new nuclear submarines for a period of between 7-11 years at a cost of around $2bn. It has been said that Russia that India will not be given the chance to buy these submarines, although it is believed that this statement has been given to divert the attention of concerned global governments. India currently already has aviation and above water capabilities.

Pakistan

Pakistan was very late in its development of nuclear weapons, only beginning in 1972 as a result of developments by neighbouring India. There has long been tension between the two countries and Pakistan clearly did not want to lose any power over its neighbouring country. It was not until 1998 that Pakistan completed its nuclear programme to the point at which it could be considered 'armed' or 'active'. Little is known about Pakistan's exact number of warheads, however it is believed to have a current stockpile of between 35 - 120 active warheads. China is believed to have assisted Pakistan in its development of nuclear weapons, an action which contravenes the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.

North Korea

North Korea is a self confessed holder of nuclear weapons. It was a member of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty but withdrew in 2003 - claiming that the United States had not fulfilled its side of the agreement. It was announced on October 9th 2006 that North Korea had successfully conducted a nuclear test for the first time, by April 2009 it is believed that North Korea had become a 'fully pledged' nuclear power. Its new stockpile is estimated to currently stand between 6-8 active missiles, although they are certain to increase this stockpile with time.

Israel

Israel has long been accused of being the owner of nuclear weaponry, who knows?