Who Has Nuclear Weapons?
There are five ‘declared’ nuclear weapon states. They are the United States, United Kingdom, France, Russia and China. ‘Declared’ means that they have signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) as countries which had tested nuclear weapons. No other country that has signed the NPT is allowed to have these weapons. Following the series of tests in 1998, it was clear that both India and Pakistan were developing nuclear weapons. They now both possess them. Although it will never say if it does indeed have them, it is generally agreed that Israel also has a nuclear arsenal. These three countries have not signed the NPT. In May 2009 North Korea (the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea – DPRK) announced that it had conducted an underground nuclear test. According to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, it was larger than the previous test in 2006 but still smaller than the Hiroshima bomb. The Bulletin also suggests that the device failed to detonate properly. Other countries have
