Global Fissile Material Inventories

This report estimates that global stockpiles of highly enriched uranium (HEU) and plutonium-the essential materials for nuclear weapons-are growing.The authors estimate that plutonium stockpiles alone are expanding by 70-75 metric tons each year. At the end of 2003, there were more than 3,700 metric tons of plutonium and HEU in about 60 countries. Although 30-40 metric tons of military HEU were converted into low-enriched uranium last year, there are still an estimated 1,725 metric tons of military stocks remaining. The report notes that the three nuclear NonproliferationTreaty hold-out states-Israel, Pakistan, and India-continue to increase their military stocks of fissile material.

[Author Affiliation]

By David Albright, Frans Berkhout, and William Walker.

The Institute for Science and International Security, June 2004.