NUCLEAR STRUGGLE AT U.N.

A critical debate betweennuclear haves and have-notsgot underway today at the United Nations. At issue: whether to extend the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, the 25-year-old pact designed to block the spread of atomic arms.TIME Defense correspondent Mark Thompsonsays the conference pits the major nuclear powers -- the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China -- againstThird World countriesthat want them to disarm before giving up the right to such weapons. The major powers want the treaty to be made permanent, but Thompson says smaller countries "think that freezes the advantage." In New York today, U.N. Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali called for disarmament as well as an extension of the treaty. While U.S. envoy Tom Graham predicted that two-thirds of the 182 countries present will vote with the U.S. at the end of the three-week showdown, Thompson notes that State Department officials privately say the vote is in jeopardy.