Now that the U.S. and Russia signed a new...
in 2009.The guest list for the summit includes all countries with nuclear weapons, nuclear power generation, sources of nuclear materials, nuclear power plants, nuclear research reactors, or nuclear-powered ships - in other words, all countries that use highly enriched uranium (HEU). This type of uranium can be easily upgraded for use in nuclear weapons.
According to the International Panel on Fissile Materials (IPFM), which includes Russian experts, the world"s HEU reserves currently total 1,670 metric tons, including 760 tons for "non-military use." Russia and the United States hold the lion"s share of these reserves. Outside these two countries, civilian projects require about 4.3 tons of HEU annually, which is enough to produce 160 nuclear warheads.
Most of the rules governing the use of nuclear materials were written (or at least thought up) after World War II in the 1950s, and they have not changed significantly since then. And yet, the number of nuclear
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