France Retires Many Nukes

NUCLEAR, BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL WEAPONS

March 27, 2008: France is reducing its nuclear arsenal by about 14 percent, by withdrawing about fifty nuclear bombs (carried by Mirage 2000 or Rafale fighter-bombers). This will leave France with about 300 nuclear weapons, half the number it had during the Cold War. The major nuclear powers, the U.S. and Russia, have reduced their own nuclear arsenals even more, retiring over 80 percent of their Cold War era nukes. But that still leaves the U.S. and Russia with over 2,000 nukes each.