Nuclear Weapons Watch Thread

[wjfox]

China's nuclear arsenal hits 600 warheads, up 100 from year before

KYODO NEWS
34 minutes ago

China likely increased its nuclear arsenal in 2024 by 100 warheads to 600, an international security think tank said Monday, pointing out that Beijing is expanding its stockpile faster than any other country.

The overall global nuclear inventory declined slightly to 12,241, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute said in its annual report, but it expressed concern that a "dangerous new nuclear arms race is emerging."

North Korea was estimated to possess around 50 nuclear warheads as of January, the same as last year, and enough fissile material to produce up to 40 more, while Russia, which maintains the world's largest arsenal, holds 5,459.

The United States had 5,177 warheads. Together with Russia, the two nations accounted for about 90 percent of the world's total, the report said, adding Israel has 90 warheads, although the country does not publicly acknowledge possessing them.

In Beijing, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said Monday that China "always keeps its nuclear capabilities at the minimum level required by national security" and "has never engaged in an arms race."

https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2025 ... efore.html



So, pretty much as we predicted:

[weatheriscool]

[firestar464]

More on that by Foreign Affairs:

https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-s ... rang-vaddi

Yet another threat comes from Pakistan. Although Pakistan claims its nuclear program is strictly focused on deterring India, which enjoys conventional military superiority, U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that the Pakistani military is developing an ICBM that could reach the continental United States. In acquiring such a capability, Pakistan might be seeking to deter the United States from either trying to eliminate its arsenal in a preventive attack or intervening on India’s behalf in a future Indian-Pakistani conflict. Regardless, as U.S. officials have noted, if Pakistan acquires an ICBM, Washington will have no choice but to treat the country as a nuclear adversary—no other country with ICBMs that can target the United States is considered a friend. In short, mounting nuclear dangers now lurk in every region of vital interest to the United States.

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

[weatheriscool]

[wjfox]

Hospital practises drills for nuclear incidents

4 hours ago

Hospital staff have taken part in practice drills to prepare for chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear incidents.

The emergency response teams at Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust donned hazmat suits for the exercises at both Southend and Basildon hospitals on Thursday.

Similar exercises are planned for Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford early next month.

"It's about making sure our teams are confident, capable and ready to respond to anything - no matter how unlikely it may seem," said Steve Arrowsmith, head of emergency response team.

Mr Arrowsmith said "our on-call commanders" walked the team through had the incidents happened in "real life".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c179y0r4j1xo



Teams built decontamination shelters, and ran through decontamination procedures. Credit: MID AND SOUTH ESSEX NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

[weatheriscool]

[wjfox]

Russia says it has tested nuclear-powered Burevestnik missile

4 hours ago

Russia has tested the nuclear-powered Burevestnik cruise missile, Moscow's top general has said.

"We have launched a multi-hour flight of a nuclear-powered missile and it covered a 14,000km (8,700-mile) distance, which is not the limit," Chief of General Staff Valery Gerasimov told President Vladimir Putin in a televised meeting.

The low-flying experimental weapon, first announced in 2018, has been hailed as having a potentially unlimited range and the ability to evade missile defences.

[...]

A Russian military journal quoted in the IISS report claims the missile has a range of between 10,000 and 20,000km, allowing "the missile to be based anywhere in Russia and still be able to reach targets in the continental US".

The same journal also says the missile can fly as low as 50 to 100 metres above ground, making it difficult for air defences to intercept.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0qp8ed877jo

[wjfox]

Trump directs nuclear weapons testing to resume for first time in over 30 years

30 October 2025, 02:09 GMT

President Donald Trump called on US military leaders to resume testing US nuclear weapons in order to keep pace with other countries such as Russia and China.

"Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the Department of War to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis," he wrote on social media just before meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea.

The US has more nuclear weapons than any other country, Trump said, with Russia second and China a "distant third". It has not conducted nuclear weapons testing since 1992.

It comes just days after Trump denounced Russia for testing a nuclear-powered missile, which reportedly has an unlimited range.

Trump's post on Wednesday night acknowledges the "tremendous destructive power" of nuclear weapons, but said he had "no choice" but to update and renovate the US arsenal during his first term in office.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gzq2p0yk4o

[wjfox]

Kremlin: We will test nuclear weapons if Trump does

30 October 2025 5:49pm GMT

The Kremlin warned Donald Trump that Russia will resume testing its nuclear weapons if the US does the same.

Just hours after Russia revealed it tested a nuclear-capable underwater drone on Thursday, Mr Trump ordered the Pentagon to immediately begin testing America’s own nuclear arsenal.

“Because of other countries testing programs, I have instructed the department of war to start testing our Nuclear Weapons on an equal basis,” Mr Trump said.

The Kremlin pointed out that a global ban on nuclear tests has largely been upheld since 1996, warning that if any nation breaches the embargo, Russia will follow suit.

“If someone abandons the moratorium, Russia will act accordingly,” Dmitry Peskov, the Kremlin spokesperson said in a call with reporters.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/us/news/202 ... r-weapons/

[firestar464]

[caltrek]

The Experts Respond to Trump’s Proposal to “Start Testing Our Nuclear Weapons on an Equal Basis”
By Dan Drollette Jr
October 30, 2025

Introduction:

( Bulletin of Atomic Scientists) President Donald Trump wrote on Truth Social, his social media site, that he had instructed the Department of War (formerly the Defense Department) to return to “nuclear testing” — although it’s unclear whether he was referring to testing a nuclear delivery system (such as a rocket) or testing a nuclear explosive device (the actual bomb itself). Those are two very different things that Trump seems to be confused about.

In the words of prominent nuclear weapons expert Hans Kristensen of the Federation of American Scientists (who is one of the lead authors of the “Nuclear Notebook” column, published regularly in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists): “It’s hard to know what he means. As usual, he’s unclear, all over the map, and wrong.” Kristensen then goes into detail, debunking a series of Trump’s assertions in his social media post. For instance, Trump’s initial claim that “[t]he United States has more Nuclear Weapons than any other country. This was accomplished, including a complete update and renovation of existing weapons, during my First Term in office…” is simply false.

As Kristensen points out, Russia has more nuclear weapons than the United States. And Trump’s assertion about a “a complete update and renovation of existing weapons” is also flatly wrong. In Kristensen’s words, “The nuke modernization program currently underway was initiated by Obama, Trump didn’t finish it, and it will continue for another two decades.”

Kristensen then proceeds for eight linked posts to correct or clarify the many other misstatements made by the president in Trump’s Truth Social post. For example, even if China was to up the number of its warheads dramatically, that would still amount to less than a third of what the United States and Russia each already have.

Read more here: https://thebulletin.org/2025/10/the-e ... t-heading

[weatheriscool]

[firestar464]

More on that by Reuters:

https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/sau ... 29260.html

[firestar464]

Exclusive - China likely loaded more than 100 ICBMs in silo fields, Pentagon report says

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/ex ... r-AA1SR48I

[weatheriscool]

[firestar464]

This is misleading; Germany does not plan to build its own nukes but rather supports the strengthening of the nuclear capabilities and umbrella of its allies.

https://www.reuters.com/business/aerosp ... 026-01-29/

[wjfox]

Fears of new arms race as US-Russia nuclear weapons treaty due to expire

53 minutes ago

The last nuclear weapons control treaty between the US and Russia is due to expire on Thursday, raising fears of a new arms race.

The Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, known as "New START" and signed in 2010 was one of a handful of agreements designed to help prevent a catastrophic nuclear war.

The treaty capped the number of deployed strategic nuclear warheads for each party to 1,550. It also established some transparency including data transfer, notifications and on site inspections.

The treaty's expiry effectively marks an end to the arms control co-operation between Washington and Moscow that helped bring an end to the Cold War.

On Wednesday, Pope Leo urged the US and Russia to renew the treaty, saying the current world situation required "calls for doing everything possible to avert a new arms race".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4g31n4ey9go

[weatheriscool]