Nuclear Free World Policy
These countries are weary of nuclear weapons’ deployment above everything else. Although 8 states are exempted from ban on nuclear weapons, 5 nations retain a de jure status of a “nuclear weapon state.” These states are the United States of America, the United Kingdom, the People’s Republic of China, France and Russia—all of whom had already tested nuclear weapons before the NPT was signed. NWS’s right to possess a nuclear arsenal is countered by Article VI of the treaty, which says that they have a legal obligation to eventually disarm. They also criticized NWS countries for failing to meet their obligation to disarm, in addition to criticizing the 3 states non-signatory nuclear weapons-capable states (which are considered de facto nuclear weapons states). This was stated in point 4 of the Joint Declaration of 1998:
List of states with nuclear weapons
The United Kingdom tested its first nuclear weapon ("Hurricane") in 1952. The UK had provided considerable impetus and initial research for the early conception of the atomic bomb, aided by Austrian, German and Polish physicists working at British universities who had either fled or decided not to return to Nazi Germany or Nazi controlled territories. The UK collaborated closely with the United States and Canada during the Manhattan Project, but had to develop its own method for manufacturing and detonating a bomb as U.S. secrecy grew after 1945. The United Kingdom was the third country in the world, after the United States and Soviet Union, to develop and test a nuclear weapon. Its programme was motivated to have an independent deterrent against the Soviet Union, while also maintaining its status as a great power. It tested its first hydrogen bomb in 1957 (Operation Grapple), making it the third country to do so after the United States and Soviet Union. The UK maintained a fleet of V bomber strategic bombers and ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs) equipped with nuclear weapons during the Cold War. It currently maintains a fleet of four 'Vanguard' class ballistic missile submarines equipped with Trident II missiles. In 2016, the UK House of Commons voted to renew the British nuclear weapons system with the "Dreadnought"-class submarine, without setting a date for the commencement of service of a replacement to the current system.