Uranium enrichment is crucial for nuclear armed countries for their nuclear weapons. There are 9 countries in the world that possess nuclear weapons/arsenal as of the beginning of 2025. They are Russia, United States, China, France, United Kingdom, Pakistan, India, Israel and North Korea.
Besides Belgium, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands and Turkiye host U.S nuclear weapons and Belarus is hosting Russian nuclear weapons. {Source: Which Countries have nuclear weapons? published by ICAN}.
The report of the Federation of American Scientists (FAS is an American non-profit global policy think tank headquartered in Washington DC) revealed that the 9 nuclear armed countries collectively possess 12331 warheads.{Source: Status of World Nuclear Forces, 2025 published by Federation of American Scientists}.The figure 12331 shows a significant decline from the approximately 70000 nuclear warheads possessed by the nuclear armed countries during the Cold However in the light of the recent global conflicts which include the ongoing Russia - Ukraine war, the conflict in Sudan and the Gaza - Israel war among others international society opines that nuclear arsenals are expected to grow over the coming years by increasing the active military stockpiles (useable nuclear weapons).
Why Uranium enrichment is crucial for nuclear weapons?
The growth of nuclear weapons/arsenal/warheads will also increase the demand of Uranium-235, a rare isotope of the heavy metal Uranium, because it is the most commonly used nuclear This extremely rare isotope is one of the few elements that can undergo induced fission.That means the element can be broken down very quickly by a process put into motion by humans.
(This topic is relevant for UPSC civil services preliminary and main exams.)