World 'drifting into one of the most dangerous periods in history' according to a leading think tank

The world is “drifting into one of the most dangerous periods in human history” according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute The warning comes as the number of operational nuclear weapons in the arsenals of the major military powers was said to have drastically increased in recent times

There are now said to be an estimated 12,512 warheads globally, of which 9,576 are i military stockpiles ready for potential use, up 86 on a year ago

Worryingly the rise has been mainly caused by a massive rearmanent programme in China which has accounted fo 60 of the new warheads

The other new weapons are attributed to Russia (12), Pakistan (five), North Korea (five) and India (four)

Russia and the US together possess almost 90% of all the nuclear weapons globally In addition to their usable nuclear weapons, the two powers each hold more than 1,000 warheads previously retired from military service, which they are gradually dismantling

Of the total of 12,512 warheads in the world, which includes those that are retired and awaiting dismantlement, it is estimated that 3,844 are deployed with missiles and aircraft. China, the world’s third biggest nuclear power, is believed to have increased its number of warheads from 350 in January 2022 to 410 in January 2023

That arsenal is expected to keep growing although analysts predict they will not surpass the arsenals of the US and Russia

In 2021, commercial satellite imagery revealed that China had started construction of hundreds of new missile silos across the north of its territory

A spokesman for the Stockholm Research Institute said: “China has started a significant expansion of its nuclear arsenal It is increasingly difficult to square this trend with China’s declared aim of having only the minimum nuclear forces needed to maintain its national security ”

The news comes as Ukraine's nuclear energy agency says it has put the last operating reactor at Europe's largest nuclear power plant into a "cold shutdown" a safety precaution as catastrophic flooding from the collapse of a arby dam eatens the cility's water pply ve out of six actors at the porizhzhia uclear Power ant, which is cupied by ussian forces, are eady in cold utdown, in which all control rods are inserted into the reactor core to stop the nuclear fission reaction and generation of heat and pressure Energoatom, the Ukrainian nuclear power agency, said in a statement that there was "no direct threat" to the Zaporizhzhia plant due to the breach of the Kakhovka dam further down the Dnipro River, which has forced thousands of people to flee flooding and also sharply reduced water levels in a reservoir used to help cool the facility.

Energoatom said that other factors in the decision included shelling near the site which has damaged overhead lines connecting the plant to Ukraine's energy system.

With all nuclear reactions stopped, temperatures and pressure inside reactors gradually decline, reducing the required intensity of water cooling of the radioactive fuel This is a nuclear power plant's safest operating mode Energoatom employees are still working at the power plant, although it remains controlled by the Russians