Not all countries that crave the power and prestige of nuclear weapons have been able to master the technology and the supply of uranium necessary. In addition to the five official members of the nuclear club (incidentally the 5 permanent members of the UN Security Council), at least another eight nations actively pursued steps to qualify for membership. Recently some countries have been militarily persuaded to abandon their nuclear plans (Iraq). Others have voluntarily started to destroy their arsenal (Ukraine, Libya, South Africa). In the mid 1990s North Korea struck a billion-dollar deal with the US using its alleged arsenal as a bargaining chip for economic help.
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