Working Group 1, co-chaired by the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, worked to address monitoring and verification objectives. The first deliverable from this working group is a framework document with terms and definitions, principles, and good practices. The set of principles of verification are:
- Effectiveness: Verification must provide parties to an agreement with sufficient confidence of the compliance by other parties to that agreement.
- Building Confidence: A verification mechanism should help build confidence in the viability of the underlying agreement.
- Non-proliferation: Verification must not lead to the transfer of proliferation sensitive knowledge.
- Non-interference: The level of interference of verification activities is moderated by national interests, notably those related to security and safety.
- Cost-Efficiency: Verification mechanisms must be cost/resource-effective.
- Determinacy: Verification must balance clarity, simplicity, and flexibility.
- Structure: The role and position of national authorities in the context of verification must be well-established and balanced.
The principles have been elaborated upon in the report which can be downloaded below. This report is coupled with a broad flowchart showing possible monitoring and verification activities for key disarmament steps across the nuclear weapons lifecycle. This 14-step analytic framework of dismantlement-related activities under a future nuclear disarmament agreement entails a series of specific steps, with associated monitoring/inspection options.
Download the Report View the 14-step framework
Within this 14-step framework, the primary focus of Phase I was on the monitoring and inspection of nuclear weapon dismantlement (Steps 6–10), or what the Partnership labeled the “Basic Dismantlement Scenario.” This scenario guided the Working Groups and was the basis of a one-day Walkthrough Exercise as Phase I drew toward its conclusion.
