Near Term Opportunities to Advance the Goals of NPT Article VI through International Technical Cooperation

About

International technical cooperation on issues relevant to the challenges of nuclear disarmament can demonstrate commitment to NPT Article VI obligations, strengthen the security of fissile materials and weapons, and develop technical approaches to support more ambitious disarmament activities in the future.  Including states without nuclear weapons, would assure that their views are taken into account and would invest them in developing solutions to key challenges. This presentation discusses three areas for technical cooperation that would build on past activities and that could produce such benefits: 

• Improved accounting, protection and control of nuclear weapons and fissile material,
  
• Enhanced transparency for nuclear weapon complexes, and
  
• Mechanisms for international management of sensitive civilian nuclear facilities.
  

International cooperation in each of these areas could provide a technical basis for pursuing possible future disarmament negotiations and substantively demonstrate commitment to NPT Article VI.