SMuK 2023 – scientific programme

Parts | Days | Selection | Search | Updates | Downloads | Help

AGA: Arbeitsgruppe Physik und Abrüstung

AGA 2: New Verification Concepts and Forensics

AGA 2.2: Talk

Wednesday, March 22, 2023, 15:05–15:25, HSZ/0004

Nuclear verification research – an integrated interdisciplinary approach — •Sophie Kretzschmar and Malte Göttsche — RWTH Aachen University

Verification is a key element for nuclear arms control. In today’s global situation, it faces grave pressure: Increasing geopolitical change, rapid technological developments, and growing mistrust between states pose significant challenges to present and future verification regimes. The BMBF project VeSPoTec – Verification in a complex and unpredictable world: social, political and technical processes brings together researchers from physics, political sciences, and sociology to study verification in an interdisciplinary manner. This talk will introduce the project and demonstrate our integrated interdisciplinary approach on an example application case: verifying fissile material declarations using nuclear archaeology. On the technical side, questions remain on how to reduce uncertainties. For practical application, however, equally important questions persist that address a broader perspective: How can confidence be built when uncertainties remain? This talk will present first results on how social, political, and technical factors impact the success or failure of verification and discuss future challenges and potential solutions.