Topic: 2026 – Verification of Disarmament
Country: United Kingdom
Delegate Name: Felix Tlachac
The United Kingdom has the fewest nuclear warheads out of the five nuclear-weapon states. They established a cap of 180 warheads in 2010, but this cap was increased to 260 in 2021. The United Kingdom has four Vanguard-level submarines, with at least one deployed at all times. Despite this cap, the United Kingdom is in possession of 22 tons of highly-enriched uranium and 3.2 tons of plutonium. The UK claims that they look to reduce the number of warheads back to 180 in the mid-2020s; it has not done anything to affect the number. The United Kingdom is highly hesitant to use its nuclear missiles, like the Trident, despite always having them deployed. They use the minimum nuclear power required to deter other nation-states from attacking them. Out of all nuclear weapons treaties, the United Kingdom has signed the Tlatelolco, Rarotonga, Pelindaba, and Semipalatinsk Treaties. The only one they have not signed is the Bangkok Treaty. This is because the Bangkok Treaty is meant to create a weapon-free zone across purely ASEAN countries. The Treaty of Tlatelolco applies to Latin American and Caribbean countries; the Treaty of Rarotonga applies to the South Pacific; the Treaty of Pelindaba applies to all of Africa.
The United Kingdom verifies disarmament with the Atomic Weapons Establishment, owned by the Ministry of Defense. The AWE helps to produce and research nuclear weapons for the United Kingdom. The AWE also splits this monitoring into five categories: inventory verification, containment and surveillance, equipment integrity, facility and process verification, and verification theory and modeling. International powers also help with other parts included in these five main areas. The United Kingdom is partnered with the United States in the United Kingdom-United States bilateral technical cooperation. These two verify that the other is following the rules, and in return, they share classified nuclear research and information with each other.
The United Kingdom is also a part of the Quad Nuclear Verification, with the other countries included being the United States, Sweden, and Norway. Like the US bilateral cooperation, this group helps to verify each other, along with third-party states getting involved. The UK is also involved in the bilateral United Kingdom-Sweden research partnership, which aims to help with the Atomic Weapons Establishment. As of current times, the AWE has investigated high explosives detection and dismantlement facility design requirements. Finally, the United Kingdom is a part of the International Partnership for Nuclear Disarmament Verification, which is currently working on a solution to policies for nuclear-weapon-possessing states. In the past, it has helped with communication between states and to help bring up issues involving international verification challenges and solutions. In the future, the United Kingdom aims to keep developing solutions for the verification issues. It also aims to provide transparency on the verification, challenges, and impacts of this verification. The United Kingdom encourages other nations to get involved in the verification process, even if they do not have nuclear warheads themselves.
Works Cited
NTI. “Nuclear Disarmament United Kingdom.” NTI, 19 November 2025, https://www.nti.org/analysis/articles/united-kingdom-nuclear-disarmament/. Accessed 10 February 2026.
United Nations. “Overview of Treaties.” United Nations, https://www.un.org/nwfz/ar/content/treaty-tlatelolco. Accessed 10 February 2026.
United Nations. “2020 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.” United Nations, 10 December 2021, https://docs.un.org/en/NPT/CONF.2020/WP.34. Accessed 10 February 2026.
