Nagasaki research center releases data on nuclear warheads around world

[bananas]

Source: Asahi Shimbun

A research center here has compiled and posted the number of nuclear warheads possessed by nuclear powers on its website, the first time such information has been made available in Japanese over the Internet for free.

Nagasaki University's Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition also plans to create a poster that will allow viewers to grasp in a glance the number and types of nuclear warheads in each nation's arsenal, based on estimates made by research center staff.

"Our mission is to create a foundation for debate based on accurate data," said Keiko Nakamura, an associate professor at the research center. "We believe this will provide a foothold for working toward the abolition of nuclear weapons."

According to center officials, the poster will be available for free downloads from the website in the near future. They also intend to distribute it to local governments around Japan. The data on the website will be periodically updated, and plans call for uploading a revised poster every August.

<snip>


A poster with the number of nuclear warheads possessed by various nations (Provided by the Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition at Nagasaki University)

Read more: http://ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201308070054

[joshcryer]

1. English version:

http://ploughshares.org/world-nuclear-stockpile-report

[Bigmack]

2. What could possibly go wrong..? nt

[telclaven]

3. So far, nothing

Let us hope it stays that way

[Bigmack]

4. "So far so good..." ...

Said the man who fell off the 40 story building... as he passed the 30th floor.

[Art_from_Ark]

7. Well, there have been two nuclear missile accidents in Arkansas alone

The 1965 Searcy accident:
http://www.techbastard.com/missile/titan2/accident_373-4.php

The 1980 Damascus accident:
http://www.encyclopediaofarkansas.net/encyclopedia/entry-detail.aspx?entryID=2543

[davidpdx]

5. Realistically the US and Russia could eliminate all but 300 each

(the same number France has) and it probably would still be a deterrent. One of the problems for Russia is they flat out don't have the money to decommission and dispose of the warheads. They would have to come to the US with their hat in their hand and ask us for money.

[Ash_F]

6. Ironic considering what a boondoggle they were. /nt

[GreenStormCloud]

8. That means many of them could be duds.

You can't just put a nuke on a shelf and then use it fifty years later the way you can with conventional bombs and shells. Nukes require maintenance to be kept ready to use. Neglect the maintenance and the nuke become a dud.