May 28, 2010
LONDON - Britain's new coalition government has revealed the planned size of its nuclear weapons stockpile for the first time, saying that it will not exceed 225 warheads.
Officials have said before that the country has 160 warheads that are operational; that is, ready to fire.
In an announcement on Wednesday coinciding with a United Nations Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty conference in New York, Foreign Secretary William Hague said Britain hopes its disclosure will contribute to efforts to reduce the number of nuclear weapons worldwide.
"We believe that the time is now right to be more open about the weapons we hold," he told Parliament.
"We judge that this will assist in building a climate of trust between nuclear and non-nuclear weapons states."
Countries around the world that do not possess nuclear weapons have long demanded more openness from the nuclear-weapon states about the size and nature of their arsenals.
Earlier this month, the United States disclosed for the first time that it has 5,113 nuclear warheads in its stockpile and "several thousand" more retired warheads awaiting the junk pile.
Source: http://www.todayonline.com/World/EDC100528-0000074/Britain-reveals-planned-size-of-nuclear-stockpile
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