The global number of operational atomic warheads increased in 2022, driven largely by Russia and China, a new report out Wednesday said as nuclear tensions have risen since the war in Ukraine.
The nine official and unofficial nuclear powers held 9,576 ready-to-use warheads in 2023 — up from 9,440 the previous year, according to the Nuclear Weapons Ban Monitor published by the Norwegian People’s Aid nongovernmental organization.
Those weapons have a “collective destructive power” equal to “more than 135,000 Hiroshima bombs,” the report said.