The UK’s Potential in Nuclear Risk Reduction and Disarmament

VCDNP Research Associate Louis Reitmann presented options for advancing UK policy on nuclear risk reduction and disarmament at the UK PONI Annual Conference on 12 September 2023 in Whitehall, London. Organised by the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), the conference brought together officials from the British nuclear weapons establishment, representatives from the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, the Ministry of Defence, academia, and emerging experts.

Mr. Reitmann noted the timeliness of considering alternatives to current UK nuclear weapons policy given a potential change in government after the next general election, as indicated by national polling. He stressed that the British debate around nuclear weapons, especially within the Labour Party, often imagines a binary choice between the deterrent in its current form and complete, unilateral disarmament. This ignores a range of viable policy options in between that would contribute to global security and the UK’s recognition as a responsible nuclear-weapon State.

Against this backdrop, Mr. Reitmann set out eight measures that a future UK government could implement to advance nuclear risk reduction and disarmament:

• Declaring a moratorium on stockpile increases enabled by the 2021 Integrated Review
• Re-instating the pre-2021 stockpile limit of 180 warheads
• Adopting a sole-purpose policy
• Adopting legislation to tie future modernisation of the arsenal to further reductions in the stockpile or posture
• Adopting language into UK nuclear policy and statements at international forums that emphasises the terrible effects of nuclear explosions on humans and the environment to help ameliorate relations between the nuclear-weapon States and States Parties to the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW)
• Re-instating arsenal transparency by sharing the numbers of deployed missiles and warheads and the operational stockpile size
• Attending a Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW as an observer
• Funding assistance to victims of nuclear explosions and for environmental remediation

The UK Project on Nuclear Issues (UK PONI) is a is a cross-generational network of over 1,700 members which encourages young scholars and professionals to engage with established experts on contemporary nuclear issues.