Countries with Nuclear Weapons Capability


Acknowledged: Britain, China, France, India, Pakistan, Russia, United States

Unacknowledged: Israel

Seeking: North Korea,1 Iran2

Abandoned: South Africa—Constructed but then voluntarily dismantled six uranium bombs. Belarus, Kazakhstan, Ukraine—When Soviet Union broke up, these former states possessed nuclear warheads that they have since given up.

1. In Dec. 2002, North Korea revealed that it had violated its 1994 agreement to freeze its nuclear weapons program and has been developing a nuclear bomb. On April 24, 2003, North Korea announced it possessed a nuclear bomb but this claim has not been verified.
2. In Aug. 2005, U.S. intelligence estimated that Iran would possess nuclear weapons in the next decade. Source: U.S. State Department and TIME magazine.