The 2025 NPT Preparatory Committee—or PrepCom—begins on Monday, 28 April 2025, marking the last milestone in the current review cycle. Held at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, the third PrepCom will bring together governments, civil society, and experts to assess progress on the NPT’s three pillars: disarmament, non-proliferation, and peaceful uses of nuclear energy and make recommendations to the 2026 NPT Review Conference.
As with the first and second PrepComs, held in Vienna and Geneva, respectively, the ELN team will be on the ground and presenting on our multiyear projects supported by two governments: Protecting the Non-Proliferation Treaty, sponsored by the Norwegian MFA and Nuclear and New Technologies, sponsored by the German Federal Foreign Ministry.
Join us at the upcoming sessions to learn more about our initiatives and connect with our network, or out more about our work in previous years: 2024, 2023, and 2022.
Event 1: Reducing the Salience of nuclear weapons: Practical steps for a safer future
Monday 28 April 2025, CR 6, UNHQ, NY, 13:15-14:30*
Join the ELN as we explore pathways for reducing nuclear salience and strengthening disarmament diplomacy. This event aims to tackle concerns about nuclear weapons’ increasing prominence in strategic doctrines and examine practical measures to reduce their role.
Topics will include:
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- Doctrinal developments
- National and collective responsibilities for reducing the role of nuclear weapons
- Steps for nuclear-weapon states to de-emphasise nuclear options
- The role of non-nuclear weapon states in shaping disarmament norms
- And more!
Event 2: From simulation to strategy: How AI can advance nuclear risk reduction
Thursday 01 May, 2025, CR 6, UNHQ, NY, 13:15-14:30*
The cumulative effects of new and emerging disruptive technologies (EDTs) are underexplored and could lead to misjudgement, misinterpretation, or unintended escalation, at worst leading to a nuclear crisis. For this side event, building on our work to develop guardrails and self-assessment frameworks for EDTs, our focus will be on how artificial intelligence could be leveraged to inform policy and reduce risks.
In collaboration with leading technology experts, the ELN will present two experimental AI driven models: An experimental simulation platform that analyses the impact of EDTs on complexity and aspects of high-level decision-making in crises scenarios, alongside a digital model replicating the impact of EDTs on decision-making dynamics using both historical and synthetic data
Topics for discussion include:
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- Introduction of both AI driven tools and their practical applications in nuclear risk reduction
- Encouraging dialogue on the cumulative effects of EDTs on nuclear decision-making processes and NC3 systems
- Contribute to broader discussions within the NPT framework on managing contemporary nuclear risks
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Explore an AI tool yourself by joining us in the exhibition space on the ground floor on Thursday, 01 May, and Friday, 02 May.
*Light sandwich lunch for attendees provided from midday for both events
Contact: [email protected]
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ELN PrepCom Publications
WATCH: ELN Policy Fellow Jana Baldus explains how nuclear weapons states can lower the growing salience of nuclear weapons.
Turning down the heat: Addressing the growing salience of nuclear weapons
At the 2025 NPT Preparatory Committee in New York this month a key issue likely to spark debate is the increasing salience of nuclear weapons. All five nuclear-weapon states under the NPT are increasing the role and significance of nuclear weapons in their military and security policies, at odds with the commitments accepted under the NPT. This new policy brief from the ELN’s Protecting the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty project examines this challenge and offers recommendations for states to address it within the NPT framework.
This policy brief explores the integration of digital twin technologies into nuclear decision-making processes, assessing their potential to reduce risks stemming from emerging disruptive technologies (EDTs). It argues for international dialogue, transparency, and responsible innovation to prevent misuse, enhance NC3 resilience, and strengthen strategic stability through informed, scenario-based crisis simulations.
From nuclear stability to AI safety: Why nuclear policy experts must help shape AI’s future
Artificial intelligence, much like nuclear technologies, has the capacity to transform our world for the better, offering breakthroughs in several fields whilst simultaneously posing catastrophic risks. Nuclear policy experts, skilled in managing existential threats, are well-suited to guide AI governance. ELN Network and Communications Manager Andrew Jones argues that urgent, coordinated international action and further collaboration between experts in the nuclear and AI fields is needed before AI outpaces our ability to control it.
