(Stockholm) The nuclear arsenals of several countries, and China in particular, increased last year while other nuclear powers continued to modernize their tools, in the context of heightened geopolitical tensions, alerted researchers Monday.
“We are approaching, or perhaps we have already reached, the end of a long period of decline in the number of nuclear weapons around the world,” lamented to AFP Dan Smith, Director of the Institute. international peace research institute in Stockholm (SIPRI, Stockholm International peace research institute).
The total number of nuclear warheads among the nine nuclear powers – Britain, China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, the United States and Russia – fell to 12,512 at the start of 2023, from 12,710 at the start of 2022, according to SIPRI.
However, 9,576 are in “military stockpiles for potential use”, 86 more than a year earlier.
SIPRI distinguishes the stocks available for use from their total inventory, which includes equipment that is too old and needs to be dismantled.
“The reserve is made up of usable nuclear warheads, and those numbers are starting to increase,” Dan Smith said, noting that the numbers are still far from the more than 70,000 seen in the 1980s.
Most of the increase comes from China, which increased its stockpile from 350 to 410 nuclear warheads. It invested heavily in its military as its economy and influence grew, according to Smith.
India, Pakistan and North Korea also increased their stocks, as well as Russia, to a lesser extent (4477 to 4489), while the other nuclear powers maintained their volumes.
For Dan Smith, this increase in stocks cannot be explained by the war in Ukraine, given the long time needed to develop nuclear warheads and countries that have made this choice and are not directly affected by the conflict.