US Vice President Joe Biden has singled out Pakistan along with Russia, North Korea and others for making "counterproductive" moves that only heightened the risk that nuclear weapons could be used in a regional conflict.

"Not just North Korea, but Russia, Pakistan, and others have made counterproductive moves that only increase the risk that nuclear weapons could be used in a regional conflict in Europe, South Asia, or East Asia," Biden said in his remarks on nuclear security.

Working with the Congress, the next administration will have to navigate these dangers and continue leading the global consensus to reduce the role of nuclear weapons in our world, Biden said a week before the end of eight years of the Obama administration.

Nuclear weapons, the proliferation of this deadly knowledge to more nations, and the possibility of terrorists obtaining nuclear materials, remain among the most pressing security challenges, he said.

"Even one nuclear bomb can still cause hideous damage. That's why, from the moment President Obama and I took office eight years ago, reducing the threat of a nuclear attack has been a chief national security priority," he said adding that thanks to America's leadership, the international community is newly focused on preventing nuclear terrorism.

"We know that terrorists have both the capacity and the goal of transforming nuclear materials into weapons to sow havoc. And we know that no nation acting alone can defeat this threat," he said.

"And we've not only stepped up the physical protection of facilities where nuclear materials are stored we've greatly improved our ability to detect and seize unregulated nuclear and radiological materials being smuggled in secret," he said.