Washington, Oct 25 : The last of the United States’ most powerful nuclear bombs - the B53, will be dismantled today at the Pantex Plant near Amarillo, Texas.

The B53, with a yield of 9 megatons of TNT, is also one of the last very high-yield thermonuclear bombs in US service and is believed to be 600 times more powerful than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6,
1945.

According to the Daily Express, first put into service in 1962, it weighed 4,536kgs and was the size of a minivan.

Meanwhile, the National Nuclear Security Administration says that the completion of the B53 programme’s dismantling is a year ahead of schedule.

It is also in line with US President Barack Obama’s goal of reducing the number of nuclear weapons.

The US currently maintains an arsenal of 5,113 warheads. (ANI)