The world is in the midst of an unprecedented wave of negotiations aimed at saving global agreements to keep nuclear weapons in check. The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty [2], currently gaining momentum worldwide, would be a serious step towards disarmament: no tests effectively means no new weapons. However, opponents fear that the treaty's verification network would not catch small nuclear tests. Last month, that network proved itself by spotting a test in North Korea. Partly as a result, "I think the U.S. will ratify within a year," says Hans Kristensen [3]of the Federation of American Scientists [4].
Deeper cuts in nuclear arsenals would also require better verification. One problem is missiles with multiple warheads. Inspectors must verify how many warheads are inside sealed tubes, says Andreas Persbo [5]of Ploughshares-funded VERTIC [6], but they cannot just look inside - the missiles hold secrets their owners are obliged to keep. Last week, VERTIC and British and Norwegian scientists ran the first field trials of a device that could solve the problem.
Links
[1] https://www.ploughshares.org/file/893
[2] http://www.ctbto.org/
[3] http://www.ploughshares.org/expert/136
[4] http://www.fas.org/programs/ssp/nukes/index.html
[5] http://www.ploughshares.org/expert/253
[6] http://www.vertic.org/
[7] http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20227143.900-bombers-vs-verifiers-a-nuclear-race-worth-winning.html?page=1