Mohammed ElBaradei, who last month won the Nobel Peace Prize along with the International Atomic Energy Agency that he heads, said that "the slow progress of the nuclear-weapons states towards making good on their commitments to move towards nuclear disarmament - with 27,000 warheads still in existence - is creating an environment of cynicism among the non-nuclear weapons states."
"Confidence in disarmament commitments would be measurably enhanced if nuclear weapons states were to take action towards reducing the strategic role currently given to nuclear weapons," he said in remarks prepared for delivery to the annual non-proliferation conference sponsored by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.
The United States and Russia possess the overwhelming majority of nuclear weapons. While they are reducing their arsenals, they show no interest in abandoning them entirely. Under the 1970 nuclear non-proliferation treaty, the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia promise to eventually disarm. The other three states have not signed the pact.
He called for urgent action to establish a mechanism so IAEA members can systemically share information on the export of sensitive nuclear material and to improve controls over activities involving uranium enrichment and plutonium separation.