Threat of nuclear weapon being used is higher than it has been in generations: Top UN official

The threat of a nuclear weapon being used is "higher than it has been in generations" as the current international environment is defined by "competition over cooperation", and the "acquisition of arms prioritised over the pursuit of diplomacy", a top UN official said.

Rapid technological developments will begin to impact the international security environment in many different ways, including potentially lowering barriers to the acquisition of nuclear weapons, UN High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu told a Security Council meeting on Tuesday.

The meeting was convened in support of the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), ahead of the next conference, scheduled for 2020, to review the historic accord.

"Today we find ourselves in an international environment defined by competition over cooperation, and the acquisition of arms prioritised over the pursuit of diplomacy," Nakamitsu said.

"Regional conflicts might heighten proliferation drivers. The disarmament and arms control framework upon which the gains of the post-Cold War era were made is eroding, but we have nothing else yet with which to replace it," she said, adding that "as a result, the prospect of the use of nuclear weapons is higher than it has been in generations".

The NPT, which entered into force in 1970, represents the only multilateral, binding commitment to the goal of disarmament by the states which officially stockpile nuclear weapons.

Its objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to further the goal of achieving nuclear disarmament and disarmament overall.

Nakamitsu said the use of nuclear weapons, "either intentionally, by accident, or through miscalculation", is one of the greatest threats to international peace and security, and that "the potential consequences of a nuclear war would be global and affect all member states".

The Treaty, she said, is widely acknowledged as "the cornerstone of the international non-proliferation regime and the essential foundation of nuclear disarmament. Its role as a pillar of our collective security is likewise an accepted fact".

Describing disarmament and non-proliferation, the two pillars of the NPT, as "two sides of the same coin", the disarmament chief said, "Backward movement on one will result in backward movement on the other."