US police arrest protesters demanding nuclear arms destruction

US police forces have arrested a number of protesters demanding nuclear arms abolition at a demo in New York.

The Tuesday protest coincided with a United Nations conference on a global anti-nuclear weapons treaty.

The demonstrators began their rally near the United Nations while carrying banners that called for abolition of nuclear arms, reports said.

The NPT review conference, held from April 27 to May 22 at the UN headquarters, addresses issues such as nuclear disarmament, nuclear non-proliferation, safeguards measures and the peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

Protesters argue that the policies of nuclear arms control adopted by Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) are not effective and destruction of such arms should be on the agenda.

According to the United Nations, the US -- which is the only country that has ever used nuclear weapons against human beings -- has conducted over 1,000 nuclear tests since 1945.

On March 1, 1954, the United States embarked on a series of nuclear tests in which it vaporized several atolls of the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean and exposed thousands in the surrounding area to radioactive fallout.

The worst incident happened when a 15-megaton hydrogen bomb was tested on Bikini Island, the largest in the Bikini Atoll. The H-bomb exploded in the Castle Bravo test.

NT/NT

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