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An intelligence sharing forum involving the US, UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. 

AQ Khan was a key individual associated with Pakistan nuclear program and the early nuclear programs of a number of other countries including North Korea and Iran. 

A synonym for machine learning. Not to be mistaken for actual artificial intelligence, which does not exist. 

Atoms for Peace was an initiative launched to share nuclear technology as a result of a speech by President Eisenhower in 1954. 

A concept and technology that can allow for the shooting down of incoming ballistic missiles.

Bernard Baruch was the US representative to the UNAEC and was thus a key figure in the early nuclear age. 

A strong, lightweight material with civil, aerospace and nuclear applications. 

A mechanism for uranium enrichment that utilises high speed (supersonic) rotating cylinders to enrich uranium hexafluoride 6 (UF6) in a sub atmospheric environment. 

An international convention outlawing chemical weapons.

Can refer both to the Soviet era reactors in Ukraine and the Chernobyl nuclear accident. 

Clive Rose was a senior British diplomat and disarmament expert. 

An organisation established in furtherance to the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. 

A program originally envisioned to address the WMD risks associated with the collapse of the Soviet Union which was later expanded to other countries. 

Engineering company

As used in this site, doctrine relates to the policies, capabilities and processes associated with the employment of a state's nuclear weapons. 

A high powered phenomena resulting primarily from the detonation of nuclear weapons that can cause temporary interruption to electronic devices.

Uranium enrichment is an important aspect of the nuclear fuel cycle and is a key proliferation pathway. Content tagged with the enrichment tag is likely to relate to the uranium enrichment step in the nuclear fuel cycle. 

Export controls are measures used by states to control the export of technology. Export controls can be coordinated between states through export control regimes and other measures. 

A concept and potential treaty in which nuclear weapon states would agree to forego production of weapons-usable fissile material. 

Water with deuterated hydrogen which has certain nuclear applications. 

INF refers both to a class of nuclear weapons and a treaty to eliminate such weapons particularly in the European context. 

The International Atomic Energy Agency. The IAEA has a dedicated repository on this site. 

A program in the late 1970s and early 1980s to examine whether reprocessing is necessary in nuclear fuel cycles. 

Interpretations can be associated with any international treaty. As used here, interpretations relates to different interpretations of the nuclear nonproliferation treaty principally from the US and Soviet Union. 

A nuclear agreement involving several states, the EU and Iran. 

US individual associated with the Atomic Energy Commission. Key individual in the early US nuclear age. 

image source:  https://www.trumanlibrary.gov/photograph-records/99-1156

A euphemism for replacing or rebuilding old nuclear weapons and delivery systems with new ones.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation.

A concept in which nuclear weapons states provide assurances to non-nuclear weapons states that their security interests will not be threatened by nuclear weapons.

A country in West Africa which is a significant producer of uranium.

A nuclear doctrine in which nuclear armed states declare that they will not be the first to use nuclear weapons against potential adversaries. 

A difficult to define class of nuclear weapons (i.e. tactical nuclear weapons) whose main characteristic is that they are not strategic nuclear weapons (i.e. weapons that are mounted on international continental ballistic missiles)

An arctic desert area in Russia historically used for nuclear weapons testing and other nuclear experimentation. 

A formalised agreement for cooperation between two or more countries often required as a condition of nuclear export.

A mechanism for sustaining a fission reaction for experimental, heat generation, or plutonium generating purposes. 

A concept and practice associated with ensuring nuclear facilities and material cannot be accessed by malicious actors (and particularly terrorists and other non-state actors). 

A concept and treaty that allows potential adversaries to fly over one another's territory with the purpose of ensuring there are no military buildups or other activities of concern. 

International organisation focused on security in Europe. 

A France-supplied reactor in Iraq that was destroyed by Israel. 

A Pakistan nuclear facility.

Post-War Controls refers to efforts to agree controls in the 1945-1950 period including through the work of the UN Atomic Energy Commission.

Former President of the United States. Has a dedicated repository on this site. 

President of the Russian Federation

Former President of the United States.

An informal agreement to which many countries have signed up and an operational mechanism through which states coordinate the interdiction of weapons of mass destruction.

A nuclear fuel cycle step in which plutonium (and potentially uranium) is separated from nuclear waste. A key step in most nuclear weapons programs. 

A concept and doctrine in which a nuclear weapons state strikes back against a nuclear strike on its territory with its own nuclear weapons. Implies the ability to sustain a nuclear attack while maintaining sufficent nuclear forces for a retaliation strike.

A concept and practice in which fissile material is monitored to ensure it cannot be diverted to undeclared purposes.