Why do some countries have nuclear weapons?
They have the wealth and technological infra-structure to develop the complex, expensive facilities for enriching uranium and developing bombs from it. The U.S. (with the Manhattan Project during WWII) invented nuclear weapons. As I understand it, the Soviets stole some of our secrets in the immediate post-war period. Thereafter a few countries developed the bomb on their own, knowing a few basic principles already learned from the American & Russian programs. Just knowing that it’s possible helps immensely! Years ago ’60 Minutes’ tv show featured a smart guy who figured it out by himself researching declassified documents available publicly. There is continuing international political pressure to destroy existing nuclear weapons (warheads) and to discourage other nations from acquiring them. Iran is said to be developing nuclear weapons — it’s costing them money and it’s costing them international support for other issues. Currently the biggest nuclear threats are ‘rogue nations’ or
