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Report – Assessment of Nuclear Monitoring and Verification Technologies

Defense Science Board (DSB) Task Force Report on Assessment of Nuclear Monitoring and Verification Technologies, January 2014. This report is UNCLASSIFIED and releasable to the public.

“A relatively straightforward, albeit technically rich, charge was given to this Task Force to assess technologies in support of future arms control and nonproliferation treaties and agreements. The Task Force, however, quickly realized that addressing this charge alone would be of limited value without considering a broader context for nuclear proliferation into the foreseeable future. That realization resulted from a number of factors which included:

  • Accounts of rogue state actions and their potential cascading effects;
  • The impact of advancing technologies relevant to nuclear weapons development;
  • The growing evidence of networks of cooperation among countries that would otherwise have little reason to do so;
  • The implications of U.S. policy statements to reduce the importance of nuclear weapons in international affairs, accompanied by further reductions in numbers, which are leading some longtime allies and partners to entertain development of their own arsenals;
  • The wide range of motivations, capabilities, and approaches that each potential proliferator introduces.”

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