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Tuesday, 2 May, 2000, 14:49 GMT 15:49 UK
The world's nuclear arsenal
![]() The five established nuclear powers - the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain - possess enough nuclear warheads to obliterate the world many times over.
Yet it is more than 30 years since they signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which includes a commitment to dismantle these weapons. In the intervening period, the Cold War has ended but new nuclear threats have emerged. Nuclear disarmament The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, signed in 1970, is the most widely accepted arms control agreement. A total of 187 states have now signed the agreement, with exceptions being Cuba, Israel, India, and Pakistan. The treaty obliges the nuclear powers never to transfer their nuclear technology to other countries, and forbids other countries from acquiring nuclear capability. In turn, the nuclear powers are supposed to work towards the elimination of their stockpiles.
The nuclear power club There are five countries who have admitted to having nuclear weapons and signed the NPT and the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), which bans nuclear test explosions.
New nuclear states
India and Pakistan both exploded nuclear devices in 1998, openly declaring themselves to be nuclear powers. Unlike the other nuclear powers, neither country has signed the CTBT or the NPT, and they are therefore not considered to be official nuclear states by the original five nuclear powers.
Suspected nuclear aspirants These countries have all signed the NPT, but they are nevertheless suspected of secretly trying to develop their own nuclear arsenals.
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