Nuclear Disarmament Verification (NuDiVe) Exercise
Jülich, 4 April 2022. The Nuclear Disarmament Verification (NuDiVe) exercise organised by Germany (Foreign Office, Universität Hamburg, Forschungszentrum Jülich) and France (Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs, Ministry of the Armed Forces) tested, under many realistic conditions, a key step in an inspection process for multilateral verification of the dismantlement of a nuclear explosive device (NED).
NuDiVe aimed at evaluating ways (procedures) and means (technologies) to provide sufficient confidence in the absence of nuclear material diversion during a nuclear warhead dismantlement operation. An “inspection team" of experts from seven countries applied verification measures immediately prior to and following a notional dismantlement of a NED to gain assurance of the non-diversion of fissile material. A “host team", representing the fictional inspected state of “Urania”, used managed access arrangements designed to prevent any disclosure of information that could pose a risk for proliferation of nuclear weapons or other sensitive information. Procedures followed in the exercise were prepared by the exercise organisers, building on inspection concepts and approaches developed by the International Partnership for Nuclear Disarmament Verification (IPNDV). An independent evaluation team observed the exercise.