Nuclear-armed countries swelled their spending on atomic weapons by a fifth last year to a record high of nearly $119 billion, with plans to ramp up those investments for decades, campaigners said Tuesday.

The world`s nine nuclear-armed states jointly increased their spending on their arsenals by nearly $17 billion last year, according to a new report from the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, warning that "a new nuclear arms race is upon us".