Nuclear Information Centre

I Feel 40% Safer Now (2022)
[NIC/NW/012]

Nic Pehkonen, I Feel 40% Safer Now, 2022, photograph. [Studio floor with 4 x diecast model Vanguard Class nuclear submarines, approximate scale 1:1500].

https://vimeo.com/679590350

The UK currently has 4 x Vanguard Class, Trident missile carrying nuclear submarines in its fleet which operate on a continuous rotation system with one submarine always out on active patrol and armed with up to 8 x Trident 2 D-5 missiles, each one carrying up to 5 x ~100 kiloton warheads.

In March 2021, after several decades of incremental reductions, the UK Government announced its decision to raise the limit on the potential number of Trident warheads it can keep in its nuclear stockpile to 260. This represented a 40% increase on the existing cap of 180 as announced in the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review and reiterated in 2015.

Correspondingly, I feel 40% safer now.

Information last updated - Mon 27 Feb 2023

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