The UK has announced that it will not be participating in an international conference on the humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapon use hosted this week by the Norwegian government.
Disarmament & nonproliferation latest news
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Expert review of MoD disarmament verification programme recommends publication of research findings
A review of the Ministry of Defence research programme on the verification of nuclear weapon disarmament conducted by independent experts from the British Pugwash Group has concluded that the programme is appropriately focused and has made some useful achievements but has made disappointing progress in publishing research results and is working with “seriously insufficient” resources.
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NIS Update: July 2012
STAFF SHORTAGES AND RESOURCE CUTS CHALLENGE MoD NUCLEAR SAFETY
Staff shortages and spending cuts remain key concerns in managing the safety of Ministry of Defence (MoD) nuclear weapons and nuclear powered submarine programmes, according to the annual report of the Defence Nuclear Safety Regulator (DNSR).
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NIS Update: June 2012
TWO-YEAR BLUEPRINT PUBLISHED FOR REMOVING TRIDENT FROM SCOTLAND
Scottish ministers have welcomed a practical guide, drawn up by the Scottish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (SCND), on how to dismantle the Trident nuclear weapons system and remove it from Scotland within two years of independence.
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NIS Update: May 2012
DESIGN CONTRACTS AWARDED FOR TRIDENT REPLACEMENT SUBMARINES
Contracts worth £350m have been signed by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) for design of 'Successor' Trident replacement submarines.
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The 2012 NPT PrepCom: Hopes and prospects
Tim Street looks at what's in store for this year's Non-Proliferation Treaty meeting.
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NIS Update: April 2012
REPORT QUESTIONS WHETHER INDEPENDENT SCOTLAND COULD REMAIN IN NATO WITHOUT TRIDENT
A report by Professor Malcolm Chalmers, defence policy director of the influential Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), has questioned whether an independent Scotland could remove Trident nuclear weapons from their base on the Clyde and remain in NATO.
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NIS Update: March 2012
HMS VENGEANCE ENTERS DEVONPORT FOR REFIT
Babcock International Group has been awarded a contract by the Ministry of Defence for a £350 million three-and-a-half year refit of the Trident submarine HMS Vengeance at the Devonport Dockyard in Plymouth.
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NIS Update: February 2012
SAFETY REPORT REVEALS WIDESPREAD SAFETY FLAWS AT CLYDE SUBMARINE BASE
Significant safety shortfalls continue to dog the Clyde submarine base, where the UK's nuclear weapons and submarines are based, according to a Ministry of Defence (MoD) safety report released to the Sunday Herald newspaper under the Freedom of Information Act.
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NIS Update: July – August 2011
NEW EDITION OF MoD GUIDANCE ON NUCLEAR WEAPONS EMERGENCIES PUBLISHED
The Ministry of Defence has published a new version of its 'Local Authority and Emergency Services Information (LAESI)' guidelines to provide advice to civil emergency services on action to take in the event of an emergency during the transport of a nuclear weapon or military special nuclear materials.
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NIS Update: June – July 2010
REDUCTION IN UK NUCLEAR WARHEAD NUMBERS BEGINS
The Ministry of Defence has announced that the programme for implementing reductions in the number of UK nuclear warheads outlined in last year's Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) has now commenced.
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NIS videoblog: The UK – Norway Initiative
Our new video blog shows an interview with Andreas Persbo, Executive Director of VERTIC, about the ground-breaking UK – Norway Initiative on disarmament verification. The UK – Norway Initiative has brought researchers from the two nations together to investigate the science of verification of the dismantling of nuclear warheads, and VERTIC has acted as the independent non-government observer for the programme.