U.S. to Halve Nuclear Weapons Reserves

The U.S. stockpile of reserve nuclear weapons will be cut in half, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced last week. The announcement follows one made by President George W. Bush in 2001 where he said the U.S. would cut the number of operationally deployed nuclear warheads to some 1,700 to 2,200 warheads by 2012, a reduction of about two-thirds from the nation's deployed, operational warheads. However, Bush's announcement was unclear as to whether these warheads would be held in reserve or actually be removed from use and dismantled. With the recent NNSA statement, about half of approximately 4,400 weapons that Bush planned to take from operational service will be dismantled.