2023-06-11 22:05:56
The number of nuclear weapons and nuclear warheads that can be deployed worldwide has increased slightly in the past year. This emerges from the yearbook of the Stockholm Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) published on Monday. “We are drifting into one of the most dangerous periods in human history,” said SIPRI Director Dan Smith. It is “absolutely” necessary to find ways of cooperation in order to reduce geopolitical tensions and slow down the arms race.
According to the 2022 yearbook, the nine nuclear-armed states would continue to modernize their nuclear arsenals. Some also installed new nuclear-armed or nuclear-capable weapons systems in the previous year. Of an estimated 12,512 nuclear warheads from the nuclear powers – in addition to the USA and Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel – a total of 9,576 were in military storage facilities in January 2023 for potential use, write the Stockholm peace researchers. That is 86 more than in the previous year.
Of these, around 3,844 nuclear warheads are operational and around 2,000 are on high alert – almost all of them in the stocks of the USA or Russia. Together, the two great powers have nearly 90 percent of all nuclear weapons. However, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, diplomacy in the area of arms control and disarmament suffered a serious setback. Transparency regarding nuclear weapons also decreased.
“There is an urgent need to restore nuclear diplomacy and strengthen international controls over nuclear weapons,” Smith said, addressing the increased risk of “miscalculations, misunderstandings or accidents” between the nuclear powers. Both the US and the UK did not provide the public with information regarding their nuclear forces in 2022, unlike in previous years.
In February, Russian President Vladimir Putin suspended the so-called “New Start” treaty with the United States to reduce the nuclear arsenal. However, Russia had declared that it wanted to continue to adhere to the upper limits of the treaty. It is the last existing disarmament treaty between the two nuclear powers. Most recently, the Kremlin has once more shown itself open to a new dialogue on mutual nuclear arms control.
In China, according to SIPRI, there has been a significant increase in the nuclear arsenal. The estimated size of the nuclear inventory has increased from 350 warheads to 410 within a year, and further growth is expected. Great Britain has also announced in the past that it wants to increase the upper limit for nuclear warheads from 225 to 260.
France is continuing to develop the third-generation nuclear-powered submarine (SSBN) launcher, and India, Pakistan and Israel, which has declined to publicly disclose its nuclear stockpiles, are also working to expand and renew their nuclear arsenals, the SIPRI report says. North Korea continues to prioritize its nuclear weapons program as a “central element” of its national security strategy. The experts estimate that the country currently has 30 nuclear warheads and enough material for 50 to 70 more – a significant increase over the previous year.
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