By the Numbers
Date of Einstein letter to President Roosevelt: August 2, 1939
Date of first self-sustained, controlled nuclear chain reaction initiated by humans, in Chicago: December 2, 1942
July 16, 1945: Date of first explosion of nuclear fission bomb, or atomic bomb, in New Mexico
August 6, 1945: Date of nuclear fission bomb detonation over Hiroshima
Estimated number of people killed immediately or shortly after from Hiroshima nuclear blast: 70,000
Estimated number of deaths in the Battle of Okinawa, April 1-June 21, 1945: 219,000
Explosive power of nuclear fission bomb dropped on Hiroshima: 15,000 tons of TNT
Explosive power of the largest nuclear fusion bomb, tested in 1961: 50,000,000 tons of TNT
Year Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) was open for signature: 1968
Year NPT took effect: 1970
Year NPT extended indefinitely: 1995
Number of countries that are party to the NPT: 189
Number of countries party to the NPT that have nuclear weapons: 5 (United States, Russia, United Kingdom, France, China)
Number of countries that are not party to the NPT: 4 (Israel, India, Pakistan, North Korea)
Year Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty (SALT I) signed by United States and Soviet Union: 1972
Year Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) signed by United States and Soviet Union: 1991
Year START expired: 2009
Estimated peak number of U.S. stockpiled nuclear warheads: 32,040 in 1966
Estimated peak number of Soviet stockpiled nuclear warheads: 40,159 in 1986
Year Megatons to Megawatts program started dismantling Russian nuclear warheads for recycling uranium to U.S. electric energy plants: 1994
Estimated number of Russian nuclear warheads eliminated by Megatons to Megawatts: 15,000
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