Monday, September 19, 2011: Megadeath - Peace Sells, But Who's Buying?

From History.com's This Day In History page:

"On this day, September 19, 1957, the United States detonates a 1.7 kiloton nuclear weapon in an underground tunnel at the Nevada Test Site (NTS), a 1,375 square mile research center located 65 miles north of Las Vegas. The test, known as Rainier, was the first fully contained underground detonation and produced no radioactive fallout. A modified W-25 warhead weighing 218 pounds and measuring 25.7 inches in diameter and 17.4 inches in length was used for the test. Rainier was part of a series of 29 nuclear weapons and nuclear weapons safety tests known as Operation Plumbbob that were conducted at the NTS between May 28, 1957, and October 7, 1957."


Globally there are now approximately 23,000 nuclear warheads.
(Upated as of October 2009)

Russia 13,000
United States 9,400
France 300
China 240
United Kingdom 185
Israel 80
Pakistan 70-90
India 60-80
North Korea <10

Estimated Total: 23,375

This total is from the Federation of American Scientists source:
http://www.fas.org/programs/ssp/nukes/nukestatus.html

Sure, peace sells, but who's buying?