Winning Bizness Desk

Mumbai. The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), a US-based international organization evaluating the status of nuclear security across the world, has opined that Nuclear security risk is increasing for the first time in the last decade. At the same time, NTI has given Pakistan a better ranking than India in terms of the safety of nuclear weapons. In the new ranking, the organization has placed Pakistan ahead of India, Iran and North Korea. This time Pakistan has got three points more than before and has secured 19th position in the list of 22 countries. After that India is at 20th position with 40 points. According to NTI, the stock of plutonium has increased in the world. Like uranium, it can also be used to make nuclear weapons.

Iran & North Korea have lowest ranking

In the report, Pakistan's ranking is ahead of India even in the matter of security of nuclear facilities. Pakistan got 61 points in the list of 47 countries and it is at 32nd place with Russia-Israel, while India is at 40th position with 52 points in this list. Iran and North Korea have the lowest ranking in terms of safety of nuclear material. According to the report, the maximum improvement in the ranking has happened in South Asian countries. According to NTI, nuclear risk is increasing due to global instability. The main reason for this is the Russia-Ukraine war.

Over 12k nuclear weapons in the world

Earlier, Sweden's think tank SIPRI had claimed last month that there are now 12,512 nuclear weapons in the world. Of these, 9,576 are ready to attack. China has rapidly increased its stock of nuclear weapons all over the world. According to the report, 90% of the world's nuclear weapons are with Russia and America. At the same time, China and Pakistan have increased the number of their nuclear weapons faster than India. Nuclear arms race has started all over the world. According to the index, since 2019, the global stockpile of plutonium has increased by 17,000 kg, or about 19 tonnes. This is enough to make 2,100 nuclear weapons. Plutonium is widely used in nuclear power plants, due to which it is present in the largest quantity in India, France, Britain, Japan and Russia. Apart from this, America also has a lot of reserves of this nuclear material. According to the report, in 12 out of 22 countries, due to political instability, the risk regarding nuclear material is the highest.

How is the Nuclear Safety Index ranking given?

The Nuclear Safety Index ranking assesses the status of nuclear safety in 175 countries and Taiwan. In this, 22 countries with more than one kilogram of nuclear material (uranium and plutonium) are assessed as to what steps they are taking to protect their nuclear material. This ranking also evaluates countries that have less than one kilogram or no of nuclear material used to make weapons.