Myanmar
Country Spotlight
Myanmar is not believed to have a nuclear, biological, or chemical weapons program, as open source intelligence has been unable to confirm the presence or pursuit of such programs. 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 preformance in
Region East Asia and the Pacific
200 Employees of the Department of Atomic Energy
5 Areas for potential uranium mining according to Ministry of Energy
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
- Expressed plans in 2014 to develop a nuclear research reactor, but currently lacks the resources to do so
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 and Toxin 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 (SAM) missiles from Russia and China
- Officials visited missile-related facilities in North Korea in 2008
- U.S. confronted two North Korean ships claiming to be headed for Myanmar carrying missiles and various missile equipment
Overview of The CNS Missile and SLV Launch Databases
Tutorial on Missiles and Other WMD Delivery Systems
Chemical
- Many allegations over the past decades of a covert chemical weapons program primarily from Burmese dissident groups, but no evidence to suggest the existence of a CW program
- 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
Strengthening Global Systems to Prevent and Respond to High-Consequence Biological Threats
A new NTI | bio report released today on the sidelines of the Biological Weapons Convention Meeting of States Parties, “Strengthening Global Systems to Prevent and Respond to High-Consequence Biological Threats,” outlines actionable recommendations for the international community to bolster prevention and response capabilities for high-consequence biological events.
NTI’s Lynn Rusten Discusses China’s Nuclear Expansion on Arms Control Association Panel
Biden should do more to prevent the accidental launch of nuclear weapons. Here’s how.
Education Center