Mexico has no nuclear weapons, but it possesses the technical capability to manufacture nuclear weapons.[1] However, it has renounced them and has pledged to only use its nuclear technology for peaceful purposes following the Treaty of Tlatelolco in 1967.[2] In the 1970s, Mexico's National Institute for Nuclear Research (Instituto Nacional de Investigaciones Nucleares, or ININ) successfully achieved the creation of highly enriched uranium, which is used in nuclear power plants and in the construction of nuclear weapons. However, the country agreed in 2012 to downgrade the high enriched uranium used on its nuclear power plants to low enriched uranium. This process was carried out with the assistance of the International Atomic Energy Agency.[3][4]
- ^ "Nuclear Capabilities And Potential Around The World". NPR website. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
- ^ "Text of the Treaty of Tlatelolco". Opanal.org. 1963-11-27. Archived from the original on 2011-04-30. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
- ^ "Mexico to slash weapons-grade uranium". UPI.com. Retrieved 2010-12-19.
- ^ "Russia and US to dispose of tonnes of surplus plutonium". BBC News. 2010-04-13. Retrieved 2010-12-19.