Legal and Technical Aspects of Complete Nuclear Disarmament

Questions for Discussion

Ottawa, January 10-11, 2002

1. What are the essential verification requirements for transition to low levels (hundreds) of nuclear weapons? What are the essential verification requirements for transition from low levels to complete elimination?
2. What are the essential verification requirements for maintaining a regime of nuclear disarmament while the capability and technology are still accessible, and in later generations?
3. What existing verification bodies and mechanisms (NPT safeguards, US-Russian arms reduction treaties, regional agreements, CTBTO) will need to be expanded? How? How should they be coordinated? Is a new umbrella agency necessary? If so, how would it bring efforts together? If not, what is working best about the regime now that could be built on?
4. What should be the elements of a future regime to verify a ban on fissile materials for weapons purposes? How inclusive must it be to facilitate complete nuclear disarmament? What materials, in what forms, would be subject to verification?
5. How inclusive must declarations of warheads and fissile materials be? Who should have access to this information? What data-sharing agreements are necessary to balance transparency and confidence with concerns related to non-proliferation and classified information?
6. What nuclear facilities must be subject to verification? How intrusive should the verification regime be? What combination of sensors, inspections (systematic and challenge), and data-sharing is optimal to balance confidence-building with certainty and efficiency?
7. How inclusive should control over delivery systems be? What existing verification mechanisms are applicable and what must be developed?
8. What are the essential elements of a legal regime to enforce state compliance with an obligation of non-possession of nuclear weapons? What types of peaceful collective measures would be effective for this purpose?
9. What are the essential elements of national implementation? How do these correspond to a legal regime that provides for effective and fair criminal prosecution of individual violators of basic norms of non-possession of nuclear weapons?
10. What will be the role of societal verification? Should individuals be required to report violations of the disarmament regime?
11. What are the essential elements of a legal regime that protects individual whistleblowers at both the national and international levels? What protections could a state offer citizens reporting on suspected violations by employers? Should there be transnational protection arrangements for individuals who report violations by states?
12. What expertise and skills base must be developed to enable the implementation of a universal disarmament regime? What existing or new areas of research must be developed or expanded?
13. What policy and security changes are required to allow the development and implementation of the requirements identified above?

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