A promise kept: U.S. nukes down 85 percent, and counting

By
Stephen Kaufman
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Decommissioning nuclear weapons is dangerous work, but it's part of the obligations the U.S. has under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. (Defense Dept.)

As of September 2013, the United States has reduced its nuclear arsenal by at least 85 percent from its peak Cold War level.

In April 2009, President Obama declared his “commitment to seek the peace and security of a world without nuclear weapons.”

The United States has signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which requires nuclear-armed countries to reduce their stockpiles. Signatories without nuclear weapons agree not to acquire them. The president has also rallied the international community to safeguard their nuclear materials to prevent them from falling into the hands of extremists.

The U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile has been reduced by at least 85 percent from its peak Cold War level. (State Dept.)

“Missile by missile, warhead by warhead, shell by shell, we’re putting a bygone era behind us,” Obama said in December 2012. “We’re moving closer to the future we seek. A future where these weapons never threaten our children again. A future where we know the security and peace of a world without nuclear weapons.”

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