US ahead of schedule on nuclear arms cuts

With nearly three years remaining to complete the reductions called for in the New START Treaty with Russia, the US has to remove only a few dozen nuclear warheads to reach the agreed cap of 1550, Secretary of State John Kerry announced. As of 1 March, the number of deployed US warheads totaled 1597. They are mounted on 785 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) and submarine-launched ballistic missiles and are carried aboard strategic bombers, according to a report released at the opening of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) review conference at the United Nations on 27 April. The conference, held every five years, is due to conclude on 22 May.

The total US stockpile of nuclear weapons, including inactive ones, was 4717 as of September 2014, Kerry said. That is an 85% reduction from the Cold War peak. It’s also the smallest number since 1956.

Kerry announced that President Obama will seek to accelerate the pace of dismantlement of retired warheads by 20%. During fiscal year 2014, 299 warheads were dismantled, the report said, and about 2500 retired warheads were awaiting dismantlement. Since 1994 the US has dismantled more than 10 000 weapons. The US plans call for the dismantlement of all nuclear weapons retired prior to 2009 by no later than the end of FY 2022.

“We are mindful that in return for a commitment to refrain from pursuing nuclear weapons, nations around the world expect the existing nuclear powers to in their turn steadily disarm and fulfill their part of the bargain,” said Kerry. “The United States is unequivocally committed to doing just that.”

The report said that as of June 2014, all ICBMs had been converted from carrying multiple, independently targeted warheads to carrying a single bomb. By 2018, the deadline for the reductions under New START, the US will have removed 50 ICBMs from their silos, rendered 4 of the 24 launch tubes aboard each of the 14 ballistic missile submarines unusable, and converted 30 B-52 bombers to conventional weapons only..

The New START reductions will leave no more than 400 deployed ICBMs, 240 submarine-launched missiles, and 60 deployed nuclear-capable bombers, the report said.

Since 2005, 146 tons of the 374 tons of highly enriched uranium (HEU) that the US declared surplus to its weapons needs has been downblended to low-enriched uranium (LEU), the report said. Some 230 metric tons of LEU from that program has been placed in a reserve available to nations that might be unable to obtain fuel commercially for their power reactors. When information was last released in 2004, the US HEU stockpile totaled 687 tons. The US last produced HEU in 1964.

The US will contribute $50 million to the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA’s) Peaceful Uses Initiative, which promotes nuclear power, Kerry said. “These resources will further expand global access to the peaceful atom, putting it to use for sustainable economic development.” Since the last NPT review conference in 2010, the US has contributed $200 million to the IAEA initiative.

Although not a member of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty, the US is the largest contributor to its administrative organization, funding 22% of its budget. Since 1994 that contribution has totaled $377 million.