Report: nuclear powers modernize their weapons

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STOCKHOLM (ANP / DPA)- The number of nuclear weapons has been drastically reduced over the last 30 years, but there is no reason to get a relieved breath. The nuclear powers are investing huge amounts in the modernization of their weaponry. This presents the Stockholm International Research Institute for Peace Research SIPRI in a Monday report.

The institute sees no signs that world-wide is only one nuclear power station ready to dispose of their nuclear weapons. Although all nuclear forces are busy modernizing their arsenals, it is apparent from the report that the number of nuclear heads has fallen further. At the beginning of 2017, the United States, Russia, Great Britain, China, Pakistan, India, France, North Korea and Israel had an estimated total of 14,935 nuclear weapons.

Compared with the mid-1980s, when there were 70,000 headlines, that number was significantly reduced by various disarmament agreements. The fall last year was 460 atomic weapons. This decline was slower than in the last ten years.

Both the United States (6800) and Russia (7000), which together hold 93 percent of nuclear weapons, have begun major modernization projects, according to SIPRI. The US wants to invest in the maintenance and renewal of its nuclear arsenal by 2026 for $ 400 billion. 'The planned increase in US spending does not come unexpectedly,' says SIPRI researcher Hans Kristensen. 'The current US government is continuing its ambitious nuclear modernization plans, already initiated by President Barack Obama. ''

Also, low-headed states invest according to the report in renewal. France has three hundred nuclear weapons, followed by China with 270 and Britain by 215. The researchers estimate that North Korea has now twenty to ten core heads.