Washington"s$43.7bexpenditurefarexceedsthatofothernations:Report

TheUnitedStatesspent$43.7billiononnuclearweaponsin2022,morethanalloftheothernuclear-armedstatescombined,accordingtoGeneva-basedInternationalCampaigntoAbolishNuclearWeapons,orICAN.

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Initsfourthannualreportonglobalnuclearweaponsspending,theICAN,aglobalcivilsocietycoalition,saidthatglobalspendingonnuclearweaponshasincreasedforthethirdyearinarowastheninenuclear-armedstates—US,Russia,China,theUnitedKingdom,France,India,Pakistan,Israel,theDemocraticPeople"sRepublicofKorea—continuedtomodernizeandexpandtheirarsenals.

Thereport,titled"Wasted:2022GlobalNuclearWeapons",showsthattheninecountriesspent$82.9billiononnuclearweaponslastyear,ofwhichtheprivatesectorearnedatleast$29billion.

Russiaspent22percentofwhattheUSdidandChinaspentjustoveraquarteroftheUStotal,at$11.7billion.

Thereportsaysthatprivatecompaniescontinuetobenefitfromnuclearweaponsspendingandlobbytomaintainnuclearweapons.IntheUnitedStatesandFrancealone,thecompanieswhichreceivedcontractsin2022spent$113milliononeffortstolobbytheirgovernments.

Thinktanksalsobenefitfromthecorporateinterestsasnuclearweaponproducingcompanies,nuclear-armedgovernmentsandthoseinnuclearalliancespent$21-36million,fundingthe10mostprominentthinktanksresearchingandwritingaboutnuclearweaponsinnuclear-armedstates,accordingtoICAN.

ItlistsUS-basedthinktanksAtlanticCouncil,BrookingsInstitution,CarnegieEndowmentforInternationalPeace,CenterforaNewAmericanSecurityandCenterforStrategicandInternationalStudiesforreceivingthemostfunding.

Risingtrend

TheICANreport,releasedonMonday,coincidedwithareportonthesamedaybytheStockholmInternationalPeaceResearchInstitute,orSIPRI,whichshowsthatthenumberofoperationalnuclearweaponsstartedtoriseasthecountries"long-termforcemodernizationandexpansionplansprogressed.

TheSIPRIYearbook2023saidtheninenuclear-armedstatescontinuedtomodernizetheirnucleararsenalsandseveraldeployednewnuclear-armedornuclear-capableweaponssystemsin2022.

Ofthetotalglobalinventoryofanestimated12,512warheadsinJanuary,about9,576wereinmilitarystockpilesforpotentialuse,86morethaninJanuary2022.

Ofthose,anestimated3,844warheadsweredeployedwithmissilesandaircraft,andaround2,000,nearlyallofwhichbelongedtotheUSorRussia,werekeptinastateofhighoperationalalert,meaningthattheywerefittedtomissilesorheldinairbaseshostingnuclearbombers,accordingtoSIPRI.

TheUShas5,244nuclearweapons,whileRussiahas5,889.Togethertheyaccountforalmost90percentofallnuclearweapons.

ThereportsaystheUSandtheUKbothdeclinedtoreleaseinformationtothepublicconcerningtheirnuclearforcesin2022,whichtheyhaddoneinpreviousyears.

"Inthisperiodofhighgeopoliticaltensionandmistrust,withcommunicationchannelsbetweennuclear-armedrivalsclosedorbarelyfunctioning,therisksofmiscalculation,misunderstandingoraccidentareunacceptablyhigh,"SIPRIDirectorDanSmithsaidinanewsrelease.

"Thereisanurgentneedtorestorenucleardiplomacyandstrengtheninternationalcontrolsonnucleararms,"hesaid.

AskedabouttheSIPRIreportandChina"snucleararsenalatadailypressbriefinginBeijingonMonday,ForeignMinistryspokesmanWangWenbinsaidthatChinaiscommittedtoadefensivenuclearstrategyandkeepsitsnuclearcapabilitiesattheminimumlevelrequiredbynationalsecurityanddoesnottargetanycountry.

"Wehavehonoredourpledgeto"nofirstuse"ofnuclearweaponsatanytimeandunderanycircumstancesandunconditionallynottouseorthreatentousenuclearweaponsagainstnon-nuclearweaponstatesornuclear-weapon-freezones,"hesaid.

"Chinaistheonlynuclearweaponstatetohaveadoptedsuchapolicy.Chinawillstaycommittedtosafeguardingitslegitimatesecurityinterestsandupholdingworldpeaceandstability,"Wangsaid.

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