Year
2016
Abstract
The process of effectively verifying nuclear dismantlement is bound to be constrained by the need to protect national security-related information and preventing the proliferation of sensitive data. This is likely to make complete confidence in dismantlement verification impossible or at best very challenging. This paper will present some of the findings of a research project run by King’s College London in partnership with institutions from the UK and Norway to explore the role and impact of trust in light of the lack of full information in the context of warhead dismantlement verification. The project draws on qualitative data produced from a series of tightly-controlled verification simulations targeted at specific aspects of the dismantlement process. Participants in these simulations hailed from the UK, USA, Russia, Germany, South Africa and Egypt. By isolating for study the ‘human factors’ influencing the verification process, the project seeks to take a systematic and original approach to identifying the dynamics, requirements and risks associated with trust in the practice of dismantlement verification. This paper will build on the previous paper presented to the INMM Conference in 2014 by expanding on some of the emergent themes based on six of the simulations conducted.