Nuclear spending rises 3% in one year

GENEVA – Nuclear-armed countries have increased their spending on maintaining 12,500 nuclear weapons to $82.9 billion in 2022.

That’s 3% more than what was spent in 2021.

According to a report released Monday by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), the U.S. remains the biggest spender on nuclear weapons.

It has spent $43.7 billion, followed by China, which spent $11.7 billion.

Russia was the third largest spender at $9.6 billion, up 5.74% from the previous year.

India saw the largest increase in spending, up 21.8%.

One of the report’s authors, Sanders-Zakre, said the amount spent on nukes could provide clean water to about 1.3 billion people worldwide.

The money could have vaccinated 2 billion people against COVID-19.

“Of course, all of this money that was spent on weapons of mass destruction could have been much better allocated to addressing many of the global challenges that we face,” said Sanders-Zakre. 

“As one example for $82.9 billion, you could provide clean water sanitation for about 1.3 billion people worldwide,” she added.

Nuclear weapons manufacturers received new orders totaling nearly $16 billion in 2022.

Another $113 million was spent on lobbying in the U.S. and France alone.

Countries that have nuclear weapons have contracts with companies worth at least $278.6 billion, in some cases running through 2040.

Sanders-Zakre said spending on the nuclear arsenal has not improved global security.

“Real security is being provided through the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, where almost half of UN member states are rejecting these tools of terror and intimidation and collaborating to end the nuclear weapons era forever,” she added.

She said Russia has not yet moved nuclear weapons to Belarus.

However, ICAN will oppose the transfer because it will increase tensions and risks.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Friday that the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons to Belarus will begin in July.

“No country should host another country’s nuclear weapons. No country should deploy their weapons outside of their own territory,” Sanders-Zakre said, noting that such a move is explicitly prohibited under the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.