How many nuclear weapons are there today? Which country has how many nuclear reactors? Where is uranium sourced from? In which country do most people live in the vicinity of a nuclear power plant? Which countries have got biological or chemical warfare agents?

The module "Weapons of mass destruction" provides answers to these and many other questions in its four thematic fields of delivery systems, nuclear weapons, biological weapons and chemical weapons.

The term ‘weapons of mass destruction’ has a long and changing history. There is no generally recognized definition or one that is binding under international law. To use the collective term of weapons of mass destruction for nuclear, biological, chemical and radiological (‘dirty bomb’) weapons is problematic and questionable in many ways. There are major differences between the types of weapons with regard to their deadliness, their military usability, effectiveness and use. Indeed, there are types of weapons (such as small arms and light weapons or land mines) that have killed far more people in the course of the wars and conflicts of the past than nuclear, chemical or biological weapons combined.

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