2. Total number of nuclear missiles
built, 1951-present:
67,500 missiles
SOURCE:
U.S. Nuclear Weapons
Cost Study Project.
3. Total number of nuclear bombers
built, 1945-present:
4,680 aircraft
SOURCE:
U.S. Nuclear Weapons
Cost Study Project.
4. Peak number of nuclear warheads
and bombs
in the US stockpile:
32,193 nuclear devices. This occurred in 1966
SOURCE:
Natural Resources
Defence Council, Nuclear Weapons Databook Project.
5. Projected U.S. nuclear warheads
and bombs
after completion of the START II reductions in 2003:
5,000 nuclear devices
SOURCE:
U.S. Department of
Defence; Natural Resources Defence Council, Nuclear Weapons Databook
Project.
6. Largest and smallest nuclear
bombs ever deployed:
B17/B24 (~42,000 lbs., 10-15 megatons);
W54 (51 lbs., .01 kilotons, .02 kilotons-1 kiloton)
SOURCE:
Natural Resources Defence
Council, Nuclear Weapons Databook Project.
7. Fissile material produced by the
United States of America:
104 metric tons of plutonium and
994 metric tons of highly-enriched uranium
SOURCE:
U.S. Department of
Energy.
8. Amount of plutonium still in
weapons:
43 metric tons
SOURCE: Natural Resources Defence
Council, Nuclear Weapons Databook Project.
9. Number of thermometers which
could be filled with
mercury used to produce lithium-6 at the Oak Ridge
Reservation:
11 billion
SOURCE:
U.S. Department of Energy.
10. Money and non-monetary
compensation paid by the
United States to Marshal lese Islanders since
1956 to redress damages from nuclear testing:
At least $759,000,000
SOURCE:
U.S. Nuclear Weapons
Cost Study Project.
11. Total cost of the Aircraft Nuclear Propulsion (ANP)
program, 1946-1961:
$7,000,000,000
SOURCE:
"Aircraft Nuclear
Propulsion Program," Report of the Joint Committee on Atomic
Energy, September 1959.
12. Total number of nuclear-powered
aircraft
and airplane hangers built:
0 and 1
Between July 1955 and March 1957, a specially
modified B-36 bomber made 47 flights with a three megawatt
air-cooled operational test reactor (the reactor, however, did not
power the plane).
13. Number of secret Presidential
Emergency Facilities
built for use during and after a nuclear war:
More than 75.
SOURCE:
Bill Gulley with Mary
Ellen Reese, Breaking Cover, Simon and Schuster, 1980.
14. Total number of U.S. nuclear
weapons tests, 1945-1992:
1,030 (1,125 nuclear devices detonated)
SOURCE:
U.S. Department of
Energy.
15. First and last nuclear test:
July 16, 1945 ("Trinity") and September 23, 1992 ("Divider")
SOURCE:
U.S. Department of
Energy.
16. Estimated amount spent between
October 1, 1992
and October 1, 1995 on nuclear testing activities:
$1,200,000,000 (0 tests)
SOURCE:
U.S. Nuclear Weapons
Cost Study Project.
17. Largest U.S. explosion/date:
15 Megatons/March 1, 1954 ("Bravo")
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Energy.
18. Current number of attack (SSN)
and
ballistic missile (SSBN) submarines:
80 SSNs and 18 SSBNs
SOURCE:
Adm. Bruce DeMars,
Deputy Assistant Director for Naval Reactors, U.S. Navy.
19. Number of designated targets for
U.S. weapons
in the Single Integrated Operational Plan (SIOP)
in 1976, 1986, and 1995:
25,000 (1976), 16,000 (1986) and 2,500 (1995)
SOURCE:
Bruce Blair, Senior Fellow,
The Brookings Institution
20. Number of U.S. nuclear bombs
lost in accidents
and never recovered:
Eleven
SOURCE:
U.S. Department of Defence;
Centre for Defence Information; Greenpeace; "Lost Bombs"
Atwood-Keeney Productions, Inc., 1997
21. Minimum number of classified
pages estimated to be
in the Department of Energy's possession:
280,000,000
SOURCE:
A Review of the Department of
Energy Classification Policy and Practice, Committee on
Declassification of Information for the Department of Energy
Environmental Remediation and Related Programs, National Research
Council, 1995.
Other Interesting Nuclear Facts
