King’s College London published a report arguing that blockchain systems could be strengthened to verify nuclear dismantlement
The Centre for Science and Security Studies (CSSS) at King’s College London yesterday published a new report titled “The Trust Machine: Blockchain in Nuclear Disarmament and Arms Control Verification.” Written by Dr. Lyndon Burford, the report argues that blockchain technology has the potential to enable practical cooperation in disarmament and arms control and to reinforce the non-proliferation regime by building trust among member states.
Dr. Burford said: “Around the world, states face the crucial policy challenge of reducing nuclear risks, and cooperative disarmament and arms control measures can help meet that task. Yet governments often lack sufficient trust in one another to implement such measures together, in part due to strategic and legal concerns about exposing sensitive information.”
The document is aimed at policymakers and analysts who do not necessarily have a background in blockchain, so it explains the technology’s main attributes in plain language and links each to the specific requirements of nuclear disarmament verification.
Dr. Burford described, in particular, how consensus mechanisms could replace physical keys in a two-key missile launch system, allowing many more keys to be used and alerting the whole system if anyone attempts to flip a key.
He further explained how public-key cryptography can be used to encrypt data, such as a declaration of stockpiles, so that the declarant controls who can access the data and when, while recipients can verify the source and be confident the information has not been altered.
Moreover, Dr. Burford argued that distributed storage combined with hashing adds another layer of security by making it practically impossible for a malicious actor to alter data on the blockchain in secret.
Globally, projects have already explored how distributed ledger technology (DLT) could enhance safeguards and nuclear security. In 2017, an exploratory study at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory found that blockchain could make International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) safeguards reporting more effective and efficient, with DLT offering sealed transaction records. Finland has also recently launched SLAFKA, the world’s first national blockchain prototype for the administration and control of nuclear material.
The report concludes by recommending that initiatives such as the International Partnership for Nuclear Disarmament Verification and the Quad Initiative of Norway, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States investigate how blockchain might contribute to advancing verification for nuclear disarmament and arms control.