Nuclear weapons of the United States

United States
Nuclear program start date	21 October 1939
First nuclear weapon test	16 July 1945
First thermonuclear weapon test	1 November 1952
Last nuclear test	23 September 1992[1]
Largest yield test	15 Mt (63 PJ) (1 March 1954)
Total tests	1,054 detonations
Peak stockpile	31,255 warheads (1967)[2]
Current stockpile	3,708 (2023)[3]
Maximum missile range	ICBM: 15,000 km (9,321 mi) SLBM: 12,000 km (7,456 mi)
NPT party	Yes (1968)

Nuclear weapons
Background
Nuclear explosion History Warfare Design Testing Delivery Yield Effects Winter Workers Ethics Arsenals Arms race Espionage Proliferation Disarmament Terrorism Opposition
Nuclear-armed states
NPT recognized United States Russia United Kingdom France China Others India Israel (undeclared) Pakistan North Korea Former South Africa Belarus Kazakhstan Ukraine
v t e

The United States was the first country to manufacture nuclear weapons and is the only country to have used them in combat, with the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II. Before and during the Cold War, it conducted 1,054 nuclear tests, and tested many long-range nuclear weapons delivery systems.^{[Note 1]}

Between 1940 and 1996, the U.S. federal government spent at least US$11.3 trillion in present-day terms^[5] on nuclear weapons, including platforms development (aircraft, rockets and facilities), command and control, maintenance, waste management and administrative costs.^[6] It is estimated that the United States produced more than 70,000 nuclear warheads since 1945, more than all other nuclear weapon states combined.^[7] Until November 1962, the vast majority of U.S. nuclear tests were above ground. After the acceptance of the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, all testing was relegated underground, in order to prevent the dispersion of nuclear fallout.^[8]

By 1998, at least US$759 million had been paid to the Marshall Islanders in compensation for their exposure to U.S. nuclear testing.^[9][10] By March 2021 over US$2.5 billion in compensation had been paid to U.S. citizens exposed to nuclear hazards as a result of the U.S. nuclear weapons program.^[11]

In 2019, the U.S. and Russia possessed a comparable number of nuclear warheads; together, these two nations possess more than 90% of the world's nuclear weapons stockpile.^[12][13] As of 2020, the United States had a stockpile of 3,750 active and inactive nuclear warheads plus approximately 2,000 warheads retired and awaiting dismantlement.^[14] Of the stockpiled warheads, the U.S. stated in its March 2019 New START declaration that 1,365 were deployed on 656 ICBMs, SLBMs, and strategic bombers.^[15] The projected costs for maintaining U.S. nuclear forces are $60 billion per year during the 2021–2030 period.^[16]

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