NUCLEAR,
BIOLOGICAL AND CHEMICAL WEAPONS
December 24, 2007: The U.S. has confirmed that it will abide by
the 2002 arms control treaty it negotiated with Russia, and reduce its nuclear
warhead arsenal to under 2,200 (from the current 6,000) by 2012. The United
States will also begin dismantling older nuclear weapons, and recycling the
nuclear material for power generation.
There will also be a consolidation of
nuclear facilities, with radioactive material concentrated in five facilities
(from the current eight). This will make it easier to improve the security of
those five locations with nuclear material.
Russia is also reducing its nuclear
arsenal. Both nations have negotiated a number of nuclear weapons reduction
treaties over the last three decades. Although not all those treaties were
officially approved by both governments, all have generally been carried out.
