Trust but verify: How to get there by using next-generation nuclear verification and warhead dismantlement techniques

Abstract

ABSTRACT The next generation of arms control agreements may require verification technology with enhanced specificity to achieve new, ambitious objectives. A short list of these goals includes further reductions of strategic weapons, the inclusion of all nuclear weapons – whether they be deployed or non-deployed, strategic or non-strategic – and nuclear warhead dismantlement, among others. Further, depending on the political dynamics, less intrusive on-site inspections may also be an objective. In some cases, verification measures employed for decades may be sufficient. In others, physics can play a key role in overcoming verification concerns, as well as allay some of the international and domestic political concerns involved.