Myanmar
Country Spotlight
Myanmar is not believed to have either nuclear or biological weapons programs, and, despite accusations, there is no conclusive evidence of a chemical weapons program. Myanmar maintains diplomatic relations with North Korea, which is believed to contribute to Myanmar’s limited missile program. Myanmar is a party to most applicable treaties and international regimes.
See Myanmar's performance in
Region East Asia and the Pacific
200 Employees of the Department of Atomic Energy
2023 Signed agreement with Russia for construction of a nuclear power plant
1992 Signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT)
Nuclear
- Party to both the NPT and Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone since early 1990s
- Established the Department of Atomic Energy within the Ministry of Science and Technology in 1997
- In 2024, Russia approved the construction of a low-power nuclear power plant, which would be the first nuclear power plant in Myanmar
Understanding the New Nuclear Weapons Ban
Biological
- Maintains a limited biotechnology sector, including operation of the Biotechnology Development Center at Pathein University, established in 2004
- Ratified the Biological Weapons Convention in 2014
- No evidence of a biological weapons program
Tutorial on Biological Weapons Nonproliferation
Myanmar Overview
Missile
- Possesses small number of surface-to-air missiles (SAM) from Russia and China
- Officials visited missile-related facilities in North Korea in 2008
- Reports of missile development cooperation with North Korea in 2022
Overview of The CNS Missile and SLV Launch Databases
Tutorial on Missiles and Other WMD Delivery Systems
Chemical
- Many allegations of a covert chemical weapons program, but no verifiable evidence
- Ratified the Chemical Weapons Convention in 2015
- Operates a small chemical industrial sector, but imports all its toxic industrial chemicals
Tutorial on Chemical Weapons Nonproliferation
NTI Tutorials
Treaties and Regimes Memberships
- NTI
- CNS
2023 Regional Workshop on Nuclear Energy and Nonproliferation: Insights, Policy Recommendations, and Featured Papers
Strong nonproliferation practices can help pave the way for expediting and successfully expanding nuclear energy.
Disincentivizing Bioweapons: Theory and Policy Approaches
Nathan A. Paxton, Ph.D., Jaime M. Yassif, Ph.D., Shayna Korol, Angela Kane, Clarisse Bertherat , Jaroslav Krasny, Ph.D. , Louison Mazeaud , James Revill , Amanda Moodie Muldowney , Gregory Lewis, DPhil, Sonia Ben Ouagrham-Gormley, Ph.D. , Michelle Bentley, Ph.D. , Tristan Volpe, Ph.D., Alex London, Ph.D. , Emma J. Curran, Ph.D., Nir Eyal, Ph.D.
Exploring AI-Biosecurity Governance in the Global South
Education Center