Kazakhstan: from the center of the nuclear threat to a center for security and safety

Now we have sufficient nuclear weapons to destroy the entire planet, several times over. A single warhead is capable of destroying a million-strong city in a matter of moments - Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) - to use Cold War parlance.

The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons is no longer fulfilling its purpose.

Nuclear weapons, along with the technology and expertise required to produce them, have spread all over the world, largely due to double standards of the main powers. It may be just a matter of time before they fall into the hands of terrorists, a real fear that is understood by all. This is why the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington last month gathered leaders of nearly fifty countries of the world.

First to take the floor and address the Summit was President Nursultan Nazarbayev of Kazakhstan.

During the last 25 years, Astana has taken a lead in this issue, and has demonstrated real commitment towards disarmament, and the restoration of the non-proliferation process. The country has, historically, held nuclear weapons. Indeed, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Kazakhstan inherited the fourth-largest nuclear arsenal in the world.

Although the country possessed the experts, and all the necessary infrastructure for the realisation of a nuclear weapons program, Kazakhstan voluntarily refused to do so.

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