US President Donald Trump has ordered the Pentagon to resume nuclear weapons testing “on an equal basis” with other nations, potentially ending a US moratorium that has been in place since the Cold War. The directive, announced on October 29, signals a major shift in American defense policy and raises concerns about renewed global nuclear competition. The announcement came shortly before Trump met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea.
The United States last conducted a nuclear test in Nevada in 1992, after which President George H. W. Bush established a testing moratorium following the collapse of the Soviet Union, according to the National Nuclear Security Administration.
The US is one of many countries that maintain strict and often alarming defense policies, including nuclear arsenals. With a global nuclear stockpile of over 12,000, it's scary to imagine that most of these are much more powerful than the nuclear weapons dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki! But which countries host the most nuclear weapons? Click on to find out.