US discloses size of nuclear stockpile

WASHINGTON: The US State Department has disclosed the number of nuclear weapons in the country’s stockpile.

A report issued on Tuesday showed that the US stockpile consisted of 3,750 nuclear warheads as of September 2020.

The stockpile includes both “active” and “inactive” warheads, the report noted, adding that some 2,000 additional warheads are currently retired and awaiting dismantlement.

The disclosure, the first time in four years, reversed a policy introduced by the previous administration to classify the size of the nuclear stockpile.

The United States and Russia possess most of the world’s nuclear weapons.

According to the latest data by the Federation of American Scientists, a Washington, DC-based think tank, over 90 percent of global nuclear warheads are owned by the two countries.