Blockchain technology, a breakthrough technology in distributed ledger technology (DLT), allows businesses to enhance data integrity and ensure authenticity across a wide range of industries. Interested in both demystifying DLT and showing its applications beyond cryptocurrency. It also discusses insider threat mitigation, nuclear material accounting and control, and nuclear transport security as possible pathways for nuclear security.
Analysis suggests that blockchain technology could spawn trust among countries, ultimately reducing the risk of nuclear wars.
In a recent report entitled "Blockchain technology enhances trust between countries fighting to dismantle nuclear warheads," the King's College London's Centre for Science and Security Studies (CSSS) argues that blockchain technology can lower the risks of war by enhancing trust between nations.
How is blockchain helping in Nuclear warhead dismantling?
Humanity has been facing a global threat from nuclear weapons since the emergence of technology during World War II. The UN classifies these weapons as "the most dangerous weapons on earth.".
Washington Post recently reported that nuclear war has become more likely since US President Donald Trump entered the White House four years ago - despite several world organizations working to eliminate them.
In the CSSS report, lead researcher Lyndon Burford stated that nations have the crucial policy challenge of reducing nuclear risks. Cooperation between disarmament and arms control can help achieve that. In his opinion, however, governments lack adequate trust in each other due to strategic and legal concerns not to disclose sensitive information.
Therefore, Dr. Burford identified blockchain technology as a potential solution. As stated in the paper, DLT can provide a safe, secure, and reliable means of verifying the dismantlement of nuclear warheads if implemented.
Through advancing cooperation on nuclear disarmament and arms control verification, this will strengthen trust among signatories of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty."
What is Blockchain's Potential for Nuclear Security?
DLTs (Distributed Ledger Technologies) are technologies that enable distributed ledgers. This is the core technology behind the electronic currency Bitcoin, a type of cryptocurrency first described in a white paper authored by Satoshi Nakamoto in 2009. A blockchain is a shared electronic ledger (SLT) that keeps track of all transactions between its members. The participants of blockchains are known as nodes or independent computers (usually end-users). With each transaction, it completes the task and creates a new block. Every new partnership builds on the previous one and generates a new hashtag, making it virtually impossible to break the chain.
A task cannot be completed unless 51% of the nodes accept it (although this number varies according to a blockchain's purpose, design, and type) or come to a verified consensus. The transaction cannot be completed in one or more participants disagree with the information. The blockchain's distributed ledger exists in the network's nodes (participants), which see every change made to the ledger and when it happened. In other words, no tampering can take place unless everyone who shares the ledger agrees to it.
Though blockchain was first created for the financial system to eliminate intermediaries and enable direct transactions (peer-to-peer), many people realized that the technology's key features could be utilized much more widely. For example, DLT is highly valued in the supply chain due to its immutability (unlike paper ledgers) and the timestamps accompanying every change made to the shared ledger.
There are still many "cannots" among blockchain's potential, and there hasn't been enough time to explore the full range. Blockchain technology is known for its immutable and tamper-resistant traceability mechanisms and its verification capabilities. The log-in location and the actions of users are traceable without the involvement of third parties. The application of blockchain to the handling and storage of fresh and spent nuclear fuel creates the possibility of controlling and monitoring the process, which is paramount for nuclear nonproliferation. Thus, we will ensure the effectiveness of nuclear weapons nonproliferation verification procedures by adopting the technology. According to Aaron Arnold, the blockchain can also be utilized for nuclear export controls, a researcher at the Belfer Center at Harvard Kennedy School. "Blockchain-related WMD control systems may be some years away from being implemented on a global scale." Nonetheless, there is no doubt that this technology will increasingly be a cornerstone of global markets in the not too distant future.
There are already systems like these, but the lack of reputation makes blockchains valuable. As a result, DLT can strengthen confidence and trust in nuclear safeguards with the IAEA. Fast nuclear reactors have great potential for becoming mainstream due to this.
How Could Blockchain Help?
According to the report, authorized participants will be able to "collectively manage encrypted data without a central authority" using blockchain technology. In this way, hackers will be virtually unable to tamper with the data stored on networks in secret. THEREFORE, the DLT will create a "technical basis for cooperative relations between non-trusting parties, earning it the nickname "trust machine."
Many other benefits of blockchain technology are also well known. Among these is the creation of an "immutable, encrypted record of chain-of-custody for treaty-accountable items" and the establishment of international confidence-building mechanisms, which would allow third parties to verify disarmament data without being able to see the data.
Furthermore, blockchain-based platforms could provide a secure base layer for a "private internet-of-things based on sensor networks and environmental monitoring." Monitoring at distant sites would be possible in real-time, as well as automatic alerts in case of a possible treaty violation.
Final thoughts
Various industries embrace DLT, positioning it as a critical technology component shaping and dominating the future. Since the hype surrounding open, public DLT platforms has grown over the years, and start-ups have been launching for every type of application, making DLT seem like a solution that seeks an answer when it is not. The DLT has demonstrated significant gains in the healthcare and supply chain markets; however, many projects are still in the testbed phase, which means positive results have not been proven sustainable.
As a high-cost industry such as the nuclear sector, maintaining a cost-effective business should not be compromised to achieve top-notch security. Nuclear security applications must integrate seamlessly with the rest of the organization at minimal to no cost. Adding safety measures in certain circumstances can decrease the safety of complex systems, as shown by studies conducted by safety engineers. The same is valid for nuclear war security: DLT must improve and streamline the security systems rather than confuse them.