Arms researchers warn that decline in nuclear weapons appears to have stalled
Weapons managed by the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). (NNSA/Released)
June 21, 2021 Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
There are signs that a decline in nuclear arsenals witnessed since the end of the Cold War has stalled, a top research institute said, warning that both Russia and the United States appear to have attached greater importance to nuclear weapons in their defense policies.
The nine states known or believed to have nuclear armaments — the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, Israel, and North Korea — held an estimated 13,080 nuclear weapons at the start of 2021, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) said in its annual report released on June 14.
That number represents a slight decrease from the estimated 13,400 weapons these states possessed at the beginning of 2020.
https://americanmilitarynews.com/2021/06/arms-researchers-warn-that-decline-in-nuclear-weapons-appears-to-have-stalled/
