Spend Nuke Money for Development
By Dr Arvind Kumar
According to media reports, nine nuclear weapons states are anticipated in the next 10 years to expend $1 trillion on acquiring and updating their systems. The reports indicate that the group Global Zero, US-based think-tank, whose goal is total nuclear disarmament no later than 2030, has calculated the nuclear weapons expenditure figures for China, France, India, Israel, North Korea, Pakistan, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. The Global Zero is seeking to focus attention on the high price countries pay for their nuclear arsenals in a time of increasing government budget restraints. Nuclear costs among the nine nations in 2011 are estimated at $100 billion, with similar annual numbers anticipated throughout the decade. According to Global Zero estimates, nuclear arsenal expenditures take up roughly 9 percent of the countries’ total military spending; that percentage is anticipated to increase as traditional defense programs are curtailed in a number of the nations. Nuclear weapons’ spending encompasses research, development, weapons assessments and acquisitions.
In the wake of wide-spread poverty, under-nourishment, burgeoning food crises, acute shortage of fresh drinking water and incurable diseases, spending such huge amounts on nuclear weapons appears to be irrational and pushing humankind towards catastrophe that can be avoided. Nuclear powers should divert these funds for feeding the hungry and help meet the challenges of climate change. One should not forget the lessons of Hiroshima-Nagasaki, Chernobyl mishap and recent Fukushima tragedy. We should emulate the example of Germany which is voluntarily abandoning the nuclear programme.
