The Nuclear Threat Initiative rated the 32 nations that have at least one kilogram of nuclear materials that could be used in weapons. Iran came in 30th for safety.
The report ranked North Korea at the bottom with Pakistan next-to-last and Iran just above Pakistan.
The Nuclear Threat Initiative is a project led by former US Senator San Nunn of Georgia and the Economist Intelligence Unit, a division of The Economist magazine in London.
The intiative aims to draw attention to greater efforts that countries can make to protect their nuclear materials. The issue is not that Iran’s limited security could result in the nuclear materials exploding, but that there is limited protection which could lead to the nuclear materials being stolen.
Australia topped the list with the best security precautions. The United States, which has the most such nuclear material, was ranked 13th.
Australia’s score was 94 out of 100. The US scored 78, while Iran scored 46 and last place North Korea came in at 37.
The report said that Iran’s ranking was low for what was judged to be corruption, political instability and poor procedures for nuclear control and accounting.
