Fissile Materials and Disarmament

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Fissile Materials and Disarmament

Verifying nuclear disarmament poses an unprecedented technical challenge, given the lingering uncertainty over whether states have retained militarily significant stockpiles of fissile material.

By James M. Acton

Published on Mar 23, 2011

Source: Getting to Zero: The Path to Nuclear Disarmament

Verifying nuclear disarmament poses an unprecedented technical challenge. There can never be certainty that nuclear-armed states have not retained militarily significant stockpiles of fissile material, but there must be international confidence assuring compliance and enforcement mechanisms. In the short term, to help prevent these uncertainties from becoming a roadblock in the future, Acton advocates these steps: (a) collect and archive information about fissile material production; (b) place information about fissile material production and holdings in the public domain; (c) be more transparent about civilian nuclear materials; and (d) implement the proposed Fissile Material Control Initiative. On their part, non-nuclear-weapon states could be prepared to recognize these as meaningful steps towards disarmament. Furthermore, Acton addresses bolstering enforcement mechanisms to improve confidence.

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About the Author

James M. Acton

Jessica T. Mathews Chair, Co-director, Nuclear Policy Program

Acton holds the Jessica T. Mathews Chair and is co-director of the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Recent Work

Paper
Nuclear Weapons and the Future of American Power
- James M. Acton, Ankit Panda
Commentary
The Latest Iran Deal Ignores the Lessons of the Past
- James M. Acton

Nuclear Policy

Carnegie does not take institutional positions on public policy issues; the views represented herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of Carnegie, its staff, or its trustees.

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Black-and-white photo of the nuclear cargo ship NS Savannah.

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Nuclear and maritime communities face a long and challenging journey to deploy commercial nuclear applications at sea.

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Research

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A look at how public opinion influences the credibility of coercive nuclear threats,and how it enables and constrains strategies of nuclear coercion.

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Despite the agreement’s uncertainty, it’s still a significant development in regional and nuclear policy.

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Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (C) visits the Natanz uranium enrichment facilities April 8, 2008

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Demystifying the Nuclear Threshold

The nuclear weapons threshold is increasingly important for proliferation strategy and policy. Policymakers should better understand the implications of the threshold phenomenon in the current international security environment and plausible strategies to deal with the growing challenge that it presents.

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1990s USS Pennsylvania United States Navy Nuclear Powered Ohio-Class Ballistic Missile Submarine Cruising On Ocean Surface

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Nuclear Weapons and the Future of American Power

It seems likely that, no matter what, the power of the U.S. nuclear arsenal will face erosion, not least in the credibility of its commitments to defend allies and the political durability of those alliances.

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