Blockchain and Nuclear Safeguards: The Potential for Distributed Ledger Technology

Cindy Vestergaard, director of the Nuclear Safeguards Program at the Stimson Center, will present for feedback a draft policy analysis brief on the potential utilization of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) to manage and securely share safeguards information. That draft paper will also be presented at the INMM Annual Conference on the afternoon of Monday July 23.

Originally devised for the digital exchange of cryptocurrency, blockchain is a distributed ledger technology that offers a way for parties in a network to maintain a shared, consistent, and immutable history of transactions. This technology has potential use cases—including in shipping and pharmaceutical industries—that address challenges with similarities to how the IAEA receives, processes, and stores safeguards data. This policy salon dinner, our third event on the topic, will assess the potential of DLT to improve trust, transparency, efficiency, and security in the management of IAEA nuclear safeguards information.

The policy salon will also touch upon the potential for DLT to be applied to export controls and supply chain auditing.  Discussion and feedback from the dinner will be incorporated into the final publication of the paper.