And wielders of nuclear arsenals have limited options for how to test their kit. So nuclear warheads are actually surprisingly sensitive little things. And very expensive components containing tritium, an isotope of hydrogen, have to be quite regularly replaced, since the tritium depletes over time. Metals inside warheads can also become fragile over time, given the intense radiation to which they are exposed. But this wire had a habit of becoming brittle when stored, and it often broke or got stuck at the moment of arming. These had a wire inside that had to be pulled out in order to arm the weapon. Nuclear warheads have also sometimes been built with flawed components. “One can imagine the Russians might have similar sorts of because the manufacturing has changed,” says Wellerstein. Reports suggest the military had to relearn how to make this material. In the early 2000s, the US struggled to source a classified material (whose purpose is also classified), codenamed FOGBANK, for its nuclear warheads. Doing so involves certain safety risks, notes Lynn Rusten of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a think tank: “It would be really worrisome if we saw any indication that they were moving those warheads out of storage.” To our knowledge, Russia has not begun “mating” those tactical warheads to delivery systems, such as missiles. Roughly 2,000 are considered “tactical”-smaller warheads that could be used on, for example, a foreign battlefield. Russia has around 4,500 non-retired nuclear warheads, according to the Federation of American Scientists, a nonprofit that focuses on security. Russia’s former defense minister, Dmitry Medvedev, has been particularly vocal about his country’s readiness to use nuclear weapons- including against Ukraine. In February, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed new strategic nuclear weapons systems had been placed on combat duty, and he threatened to resume nuclear testing. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has, sadly, brought the specter of nuclear weaponry to the fore once again. The missile could blow up on the launchpad, explains Wellerstein. No nation has ever tested a nuclear warhead delivered by an intercontinental ballistic missile. The Soviet Union had performed a similar test the previous year, and China followed in 1966. ![]() ![]() Surprisingly, as far as we know, the US has only ever tested a live nuclear warhead using a live missile system once, way back in 1962. And while these did prove the countries’ nuclear capabilities, they don’t guarantee that a warhead strapped to a missile or some other delivery system would work today. The 20th century witnessed more than 2,000 nuclear tests-the vast majority carried out by the US and the Soviet Union. “Nobody really knows,” says Alex Wellerstein, a nuclear weapons historian at the Stevens Institute of Technology. If someone actually tried to use one, though, would it definitely go off as intended? Thankfully, nuclear warheads mostly just sit there, motionless and silent, cozy in their silos and underground storage caverns. Countries including the US, Russia, and China wield hefty nuclear arsenals and regularly squabble over how to manage them-only last week, Russia suspended participation in its nuclear arms reduction treaty with the US. That harrowing future may seem outlandish to some, but only because no nation has detonated a nuclear weapon in conflict since 1945. Flattened cities, millions of people burnt to death, and yet more tortured by radioactive fallout.
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