In his Nuclear Posture Review to be released on Tuesday, Obama has however rejected the proposal that the sole purpose of nuclear arms is deterrence.
The Nuclear Posture Review an important part of Obama's ambition to reduce nuclear arms from the world, also does not promise that the US will not be the first to use nuclear weapons in a war.
"Under the new policy, the administration will foreswear the use of the deadly weapons against non-nuclear countries... in contrast to previous administrations, which indicated they might use nuclear arms against non-nuclear states in retaliation for a biological or chemical attack," The Washington Post reported.
The new policy will narrow potential US nuclear targets, and for the first time makes explicit the goal of making deterrence of a nuclear strike the 'sole objective' of US nuclear weapons, The Wall Street Journal said.
"But Obama included a major caveat: The countries must be in compliance with their non-proliferation obligations under international treaties. That loophole would mean Iran would remain on the potential target list," it said.
In an interview to New York Times, Obama said he would make exceptions for 'outliers like Iran and North Korea.'
A senior administration official briefing reporters on the background said, for the first time nations complying with their nuclear non-proliferation obligations that attack the US or its allies with chemical or biological weapons will no longer be threatened with nuclear retaliation.
But the president will make clear they would 'face the prospect of a devastating conventional attack,' the official said.
The document is expected to announce that the Pentagon will retire the Tomahawk Land Attack Missile, a ship-and- submarine-launched cruise missile that has been in storage. "But it is expected to leave unresolved the issue of whether to retire the estimated 200 tactical, or battlefield, nuclear weapons that are based in Europe," it said.
According to The Journal, the document will more clearly say the US will not attack non-nuclear nations that have signed and are complying with the UN non-proliferation treaty.
"That effectively narrows the potential US nuclear targets to the eight declared nuclear powers, as well as Iran and possibly Syria," said Joseph Cirincione, president of the Ploughshares Fund, an arms-control group.
"US officials consider those two nations to be not fully compliant with the non-proliferation treaty," the daily said.
Though the nuclear strategy will not take US nuclear weapons off submarines, bombers and missiles that could fire them at a moment's notice; the administration will recommend changes to the nuclear command structure that would make accidental launches more unlikely, officials said.
"They will also call for fortifying US nuclear launch systems, so military officials would not believe they have to launch a nuclear strike out of fear that an incoming attack would destroy the US response capacity," The Wall Street Journal said.
Ahead of the formal release of the new American strategy called the Nuclear Posture Review, Obama said it was part of efforts to move toward a nuclear-weapons free world.
Obama 'described his policy as part of a broader effort to edge the world toward making nuclear weapons obsolete, and to create incentives for countries to give up any nuclear ambitions,' the New York Times said.
Many threats could be deterred with 'a series of graded options,' Obama said in the interview with the NYT.
"I'm going to preserve all the tools that are necessary in order to make sure that the American people are safe and secure," he said.
The announcement comes shortly after a nuclear arms control agreement between US and Russia that will reduce their arsenals by 30 per cent.
