There are several reasons why President Kennedy's nightmare of 30-40 states with nuclear weapons did not materialize. Security guarantees by the US and Soviet Union to their allies, access to peaceful nuclear technology and the conclusion of the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) in 1968, set the framework to curb nuclear proliferation. Since 1972, IAEA safeguards has played a pivotal role in providing assurances that states live up to their NPT commitments. Today, the NPT and the IAEA continue to remain as foundations to the peaceful use of nuclear energy and preventing proliferation. Over the span of time over which international safeguards has been around, it has been far from a static story.
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