Which countries control the planet’s nuclear weapons

THE President Vladimir Putin orders Russia to put Russia’s nuclear powers on alert combined with the temporary power outage at Chernobyl’s much-maligned Ukrainian nuclear power plant, have sent shockwaves through humanity, which does not even want to think about what might have happened if someone had made the fatal mistake of pressing the nuclear launch button or a serious accident similar to that in 1986 which covered a significant part of Europe and the then Soviet Union with radioactivity.

At the same time, in fact Belaruswith “yes” in the referendum organized by the President of the country Alexander Lukashenko for the change of the Constitution, the installation of nuclear weapons on its territory is now allowedfurther intensifying the concern.

In this climate, the West chooses to keep a low profile as they do not play with them, while the White House officially announces that there is no reason to change the level of readiness and alert of the United States nuclear forces.

It is impossible to win such a war

Less than a year has passed since US President Joe Biden co-authored a text with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Geneva. “A nuclear war can not be won and therefore can never be.” This phrase was subsequently adopted by the five permanent members of the Security Council of the United Nations (USA, Russian Federation, People’s Republic of China, United Kingdom and the French Republic) who advocated the continuation and intensification of negotiations with the ultimate goal of “an agreement for general and complete disarmament, under strict and effective international control “.

But what is the situation today? Which countries do they own? nuclear weapons and what is the condition of their production plants?

Which countries have nuclear weapons?

First of all all the major powers are modernizing by making more and more powerful weapons, yet nuclear they officially have only nine. But even if it were, it was enough, as everyone realizes, to destroy the largest percentage of the human race and return the planet to the Stone Age. As Nobel laureate physicist Albert Einstein used to say meaningfully, “I do not know with what kind of weapons World War III will take place, but the Fourth will take place with stones and wood.”

According to data from the International Atomic Energy Agency and the World Population Review, nuclear arsenals have (in order of power):

• Russia with 6,257 nuclear warheads (of which 1,760 are under withdrawal and expected to be dismantled, 4,467 are intended for use and are in vehicles to be transported anywhere while 1,458 are mounted on ballistic missiles).
• The United States of America with 5,550 nuclear warheads (of which 1,800 are under withdrawal and expected to be dismantled, 3,750 are intended for use and are in vehicles to be transported anywhere while 1,389 are mounted on ballistic missiles). Both Russia and the United States have the so-called “nuclear trinity”, which means they can launch nuclear weapons from land, air and sea with intercontinental ballistic missiles, submarines and bombers.
• China with 350 nuclear warheads. Beijing has made it clear that it will not be the first to use its nuclear arsenal and that it will only do so if attacked with similar weapons.
• France with 290 nuclear warheads. It should even be noted that the French can also launch nuclear weapons from Rafale fighter jets, like the ones that our country recently procured. It is estimated that such a bomb would have killed at least 280,000 people in a major city.
• The UK with 225 nuclear warheads, which can only be launched from the country’s four Vanguard class submarines.
• Pakistan with 165 nuclear warheads.
• India with 156 nuclear warheads. It was the first country in Southeast Asia to have a nuclear power plant.
• Israel with 90 nuclear warheads (This is an assessment of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute SIPRI, as the state has not admitted their possession)
• And North Korea with 40 to 50 nuclear warheads (estimated).

So one notices that first, Russia is currently the largest nuclear power, followed by the United States (although that does not say much because even if each had 100 nuclear warheads, they were enough to wreak havoc). Second, nuclear weapons are being distributed among countries belonging to both the West and the former Eastern bloc, creating a “balance of terror,” which many say is better than having one side alone as it would blackmail the other.

Only once were they used in war

The only time atomic bombs were used in combat was during World War II when the United States invaded the Japanese territories of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1946. The magnitude of the effect of the explosion was not known in advance, as this type of bomb had not been tested in the past, only calculations could be made. When the tragic consequences were realized in practice, no corresponding throws were repeated.

It is estimated that only in Hiroshima, about 70,000 souls were killed on the spot, most of them civilians. Many more died later or suffered significant damage to their health due to radiation. Only the dome and the frame of the building that housed the Hiroshima District Trade Fair, which was made of concrete, survived from the city.

In fact, this creepy remnant has been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. It should be noted, however, that from 1946 until today, thousands of nuclear tests (over 2,000) have been carried out from various countries, in remote areas, submarine or not.

How to avoid a nuclear war

The only way to avoid a nuclear war is for political leaders to unite and decide to step up international security by imposing even stricter conditions on the use of nuclear energy.

However, in the international political chessboard, the big players do not easily agree to such a thing, despite the fact that it is protected by logic. In essence the only institution that can enforce this is the United Nations Security Council. After all, all five of its permanent members, which we mentioned above, have nuclear weapons.