Print

Mail

wiki links

Atomic warfare risk set to grow, research group says

Biggest military spenders 1. US: US$528.7 billion. 2. UK: US$59.2 billion. 3. France: US$53.1 billion. 4. China: US$49.5 billion (estimated). 5. Japan: US$43.7 billion. Source: Stockholm International Peace Research Institute

The risk of atomic warfare may grow in coming decades as the nuclear club expands and the world's top military powers develop new missiles and warheads with smaller yields, a Swedish research institute said.

In its annual report, released on Monday, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) for the first time counted North Korea among the world's nuclear forces, because of its test explosion in October last year.

Although it remains unclear whether the communist country has "weaponized its nuclear capability," SIPRI estimated that North Korea could produce about six nuclear warheads, based on its stockpiles of plutonium.

Including North Korea, SIPRI estimated the world's nine nuclear nations held more than 11,000 operational warheads at the start of this year, with Russia and the US accounting for more than 90 percent.

Iran could also join the nuclear weapons club if it decides to develop its contentious uranium enrichment program for military use, said Ian Anthony, a nuclear expert at SIPRI.

"Iran could appear on this list, but at the earliest five years from now," Anthony said.

Although the US and Russia are reducing their nuclear stockpiles as part of bilateral treaties, they and others are modernizing their arsenals with new weapons with smaller yields, Anthony said.

"The concern is that countries are starting to see these weapons as useable whereas during the Cold War they were seen as a deterrent," SIPRI researcher Ian Anthony told reporters.

The US remained the world's biggest military spender, devoting almost US$529 billion to arms last year, while China overtook Japan as Asia's top arms spender, the report said.

US military spending grew from US$505 billion in 2005 mainly because of the "costly military operations" in Iraq and Afghanistan, SIPRI said.

The report said the US government provided a total of US$432 billion in supplemental appropriations for the war on terrorism between September 2001 and June last year.

"This massive increase in US military spending has been one of the factors contributing to the deterioration of the US economy since 2001," SIPRI said.
This story has been viewed 811 times.