Security of nuclear materials : US think tank acknowledges improvement

ISLAMABAD: A Washington-based foreign policy think tank – Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) – has acknowledged Pakistan’s improvement in the security of nuclear materials and facilities leaving many countries behind including India.

In the 2023 NTI Nuclear Security Index which was released on Tuesday, it has been recognized that in security of materials, Pakistan ranks 19 (above India, Iran and DPRK) since 2020. This year, Pakistan gained three more points to reach the score of 49, as India remains unchanged with a score of 40.

In security of facilities, Pakistan is ranked 32 tied with Russia and Israel, and above India, Iran, Mexico, South Africa, Egypt, DPRK, and a few others. Pakistan’s score is 61 by gaining four points in security of facilities, whereas, India’s score is 52.

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The NTI Index is recognised as the premier resource and tool for evaluating global nuclear and radiological security

across 175 countries and Taiwan.

Developed by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) and Economist Impact (EI) in 2012, the NTI Index uses publicly available information to track progress and recommend actions for governments, regulators, international institutions, industry, and civil society to take to better protect nuclear and radioactive materials and nuclear facilities around the world.

In its statement, the NTI Nuclear Security Index for the first time finds that nuclear security conditions are regressing among the dozens of countries and areas with weapons-usable nuclear materials and nuclear facilities.

This erosion of nuclear security comes at a time when risk environments are growing more dangerous and overall stockpiles of weapons-usable nuclear materials are increasing at an alarming rate.

“The bottom line is that the countries and areas with the greatest responsibility for protecting the world from a catastrophic act of nuclear terrorism are derelict in their duty,” the 2023 NTI Index reports.

“This is a particularly disheartening development with geopolitical and economic instability, violent non-state actors, environmental disasters, and cyber-attacks all on the rise,” it added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023