DATE: Wednesday, August 27, 1997            TAG: 9708270548

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A6   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS 

DATELINE: WASHINGTON                        LENGTH:   47 lines

REPORT SHOWS HALF OF ALL U.S. NUCLEAR WARHEADS KEPT IN JUST THREE STATES

Half of all U.S. nuclear warheads are in just three states - New Mexico, Georgia and Washington - according to a report by private nuclear arms specialists that says the nuclear arsenal is spread among 15 states in all.

Details about locations of nuclear weapons is an official government secret, but Stan Norris and William Arkin said they did their own accounting from public records, including information associated with security at nuclear storage sites.

Norris and Arkin compiled the information for a coming report, to be published by the private Natural Resources Defense Council, on the location of nuclear weapons not only in America but also in Russia, Britain, France and China.

The authors said there are about 2,850 nuclear weapons in New Mexico - virtually all reserves or retired and awaiting dismantlement - and 2,000 in Georgia. The King's Bay naval base in Georgia is home to 10 Trident nuclear submarines armed with Trident I and Trident II nuclear missiles.

Washington state, which ranks third with 1,600 nuclear warheads, is home to eight Trident submarines at Bangor. Approximately half the weapons assigned to Bangor and King's Bay are aboard subs at sea at any given time.

The total U.S. nuclear stockpile consists of about 12,500 warheads, according to Norris and Arkin, of which about 8,750 are fielded with active ``operational'' forces, meaning they are in a condition to be used within minutes or hours. The rest either are held as a ``hedge,'' meaning they could be returned to active status; are emergency backups in the event of safety problems; or are retired and awaiting dismantlement at the Pantex plant in Texas.

The nuclear stockpile stood at about 24,000 weapons as recently as the 1980s.

Since 1992, nuclear weapons have been withdrawn from 10 states: Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Hawaii, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, New Jersey, New York and South Carolina.

The states holding nuclear weapons, in addition to New Mexico, Georgia and Washington, are Nevada with 1,450 and North Dakota with 965.

Also, Wyoming has 592 warheads, Missouri 550, Texas 520, Louisiana 455, Montana 455, Nebraska 255, California 175, Virginia 175, South Dakota 138 and Colorado 138.

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