According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the global count of nuclear weapons and their models is on the rise. The report highlights that Israel, despite not publicly admitting to having nuclear weapons, appears to be modernizing its arsenal and possibly upgrading its plutonium production reactor in Dimona.
The report reveals that in 2023, the nine nuclear-armed states – the United States, Russia, Britain, France, India, China, Pakistan, North Korea, and Israel – have continued to modernize their nuclear forces, with some deploying nuclear weapons during the year. Together, they possess 12,121 nuclear warheads, of which 9,585 are operational as of January 2024.
Wilfred Wan, the director of SIPRI's Weapons of Mass Destruction Programme, underscored the increasing importance of nuclear weapons in international relations stating, "We have not seen nuclear weapons playing such a prominent role in international relations since the Cold War. It is hard to believe that barely two years have passed since the leaders of the five largest nuclear-armed states jointly reaffirmed that 'a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought."
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