The world is about to have 30 nuclear nations

The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) yesterday warned that as many as 30 countries would soon own technology that would allow them to build nuclear weapons " in a short time ".

IAEA Director ElBaradei.(Photo: BBC)

Mohamed ElBaradei said many countries are playing a game by pursuing nuclear peace programs but will soon develop nuclear weapons. He called them "virtual nuclear states".

"Many countries have considered protecting themselves with nuclear weapons," he said. "Another 20-30 countries may develop this weapon in a short time".

The IAEA director also criticized the different nuclear policies applied to each country. According to him, the nuclear states still hold their arsenal while requiring the rest of the world to not develop it is absurd.

The five countries claim they have nuclear weapons: the US, Russia, China, France and the UK and four countries suspected of possessing this weapon including India, Pakistan, and Israel, now North Korea.

The head of the IAEA also said that his agency needed more money to serve the nuclear inspection process in the world and described the amount of $ 120 million provided annually just as sea salt.

The warning came at a time when the world was concerned that Iran's North Korean nuclear test and tough stance against the UN Security Council's uranium enrichment request could cause a race in Asia and the Middle East.

ElBaradei does not mention specifically which country, but it is clearly a reference to Iran and some countries that enrich uranium like Brazil. Countries like Australia, Argentina and South Africa have recently announced they are considering a uranium enrichment program to sell fuel to countries that want to produce electricity with nuclear reactors.

Countries like Canada, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, Switzerland, Spain, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Lithuania own the means, can develop this technology quickly.

Japan said it did not plan to build an atomic bomb, but it could produce the weapon by producing tons of plutonium from active reactors. Meanwhile, many years ago, Korea was thought to have conducted secret tests of uranium enrichment that could be used to make nuclear warheads.

Hai Ninh