Report seeks big cut in nuke stockpile

A call for nuclear weapons states to cut their global arsenal by 90 per cent over
the next 15 years is ambitious but realistic, says former foreign minister Gareth
Evans.
Mr Evans is a co-commissioner of the International Commission on Nuclear
Non-proliferation and Disarmament, which released its final report in Tokyo on
Tuesday.
It seeks the ultimate abolition of atomic weapons but sets no timeframe for the
momentous change.
In the medium term - by 2025 - it calls for the global arsenal to be slashed to
2000, a 90 per cent reduction in the 23,000 warheads currently available.
"Twenty years after the end of the Cold War there are at least 23,000 nuclear
warheads still in existence, with a combined blast capacity equivalent to 150,000
Hiroshima bombs," the report says.
Nuclear-armed states are being urged to commit to a "no first use" policy by 2025,
coupled with a call for weapons to be taken off trigger-status, which would allow an
attack within eight minutes.
Mr Evans said the target for a reduction in nuclear arms was ambitious but realistic
- and massive cuts had occurred in the wake of the Cold War when the global arsenal
dropped from around 70,000 to the mid-20,000 mark.
"(It) came down quite rapidly after the Cold War," he told AAP.
"It can be done."
At the same time, it was realistic not to put a date on the ultimate abolition of
nuclear weapons.
"It's realistic not to set a date on when we can move from that minimisation point
to zero," Mr Evans said.
"(It is) premised really on fundamental changes to the geopolitical environment,
neighbourhood squabbles in the Middle East and south Asia, psychological problems
countries are going to have in giving up their security blanket."
There would be issues with verification and enforcement, too.
"All of those things are not insurmountable but they are very difficult and they
make it lack credibility to pluck a particular figure out of the air," Mr Evans
said.