India ranks near bottom of nuclear material security index

India has been ranked below its two nuclear-armed neighbours - Pakistan and China - in the list of countries with a weak nuclear material security in the world, according to a US-based think-tank.

In the 2014 Nuclear Threat Initiative's Nuclear Materials Security Index released yesterday, India has been ranked 23rd out of 25 countries with weapons-usable nuclear materials.

India received 41 out of 100 points, which is improvement by one point from the 2012 score.

For comparison, China received 64 points and has been ranked at 20th spot, while Pakistan with 46 points stands at 22nd place.

India and these countries are included in the list of 25 countries with one kilogram or more of these materials, which also includes all other nuclear-armed states.

The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) said this improvement reflects India's first contribution to the IAEA Nuclear Security Fund. "Overall, however, India's score remains low."

This is due to a number of factors, including weak regulations that are written as guidance rather than as requirements; increasing quantities of weapons-usable nuclear materials for both civilian and military use and gaps in its regulatory structure such as a lack of an independent regulatory agency.

External risk factors, such as high levels of corruption, which undermine confidence in implementation or enforcement of security measures and also increase the risk that officials may contribute (even unwittingly) to the theft of nuclear material are also among the factors, it added.

Both India and China improved their scores since 2012 by one point by contributing to the IAEA Nuclear Security Fund, which supports the implementation of nuclear security activities, the report said.

In comparing both countries, India scored higher than China on the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1540 related to nuclear security issues.

China, however, scored higher in a number of areas, including: the existence of an independent regulatory agency; having invited a peer review of its nuclear security arrangements; and having strong regulations for control and accounting of materials.

Pakistan received 46 out of 100 possible points compared to India's 41, the report said, adding that both countries improved their scores since 2012.

Pakistan improved its score by publishing new regulations for the physical protection of nuclear facilities.