Kazakhstan ranked 22nd in nuclear security index

Kazakhstan is ranked 22nd in the nuclear security index, Tengrinews.kz reports citing the data published by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI). The index includes 176 countries. The experts considered five criteria: the number of nuclear materials and facilities, control over them and their protection, social lfactors (e.g. corruption), international obligations, as well as the country’s capacity to perform such obligations. Each of these parameters was evaluated by a 100-point scale. The average value defined the country’s place in the index. The three countries with the highest rankings are Australia (94 out of 100), Hungary (89) and the Czech Republic (87). Kazakhstan (71 points) is ahead of Japan, Russia and China. THe NTI gave a high rating to Kazakhstan's capacities to perform on its international obligations (96 points), while social factors in the country received rather low scores (34 points). As for control over nuclear facilities, Kazakhstan received 79 points.