The Nukes Among Us

Tweet "Nearly one-quarter of America's 9,962 nuclear weapons are now assigned to the Bangor submarine base on Hood Canal, 20 air miles northwest of downtown Seattle.

"This makes Bangor the largest nuclear weapons storehouse in the United States, and possibly the world.

"The share of the nation's nuclear armaments at Bangor is higher than it has ever been for two reasons:

"• The warheads assigned to the ballistic missile submarines stationed at Bangor and at Kings Bay, Ga., now constitute more than half of the U.S. strategic weapons force.

"• Other storage sites have been closed or consolidated as the country has cut the size of its arsenal from a Cold War peak of some 24,000 weapons.

"The status and disposition of the nation's nuclear arsenal is detailed in the current issue of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists. Bulletin authors Robert S. Norris and Hans M. Kristensen say the U.S. arsenal is now the smallest it has been since 1958. U.S. nuclear arms are maintained at 18 facilities in 12 states and six foreign countries, according to the report.

"The Bulletin was founded in 1945 by scientists who participated in the Manhattan Project to develop the atomic bomb and is considered an authoritative source of nuclear weapons information for the United States and other countries.