Dealing (or not) with the world's doomsday arsenal

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http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L18150863.htm

<snip>The NPT came into force in 1970, but the sword still hangs. Nine countries possess some 30,000 atomic weapons -- enough to destroy the planet many times over -- and dozens more could build a bomb if they wanted to. snip

The situation does not look good for the NPT. Four countries -- India, Israel, Pakistan and North Korea -- are outside the pact.

The NPT's five nuclear powers -- the United States, Russia, France, Britain and China -- have yet to scrap their arsenals, and Washington and Moscow are exploring new weapons. This, experts say, encourages other countries to go for the bomb.

Making matters worse, the IAEA is still trying to stamp out a global nuclear black market linked to Abdul Qadeer Khan, the disgraced engineer who built Pakistan's nuclear weapons programme. Khan supplied Libya, Iran and North Korea with centrifuge technology used to make atomic fuel for power plants or bombs.

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