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Policy brief | 2 October 2025

Guarding the unthinkable: Why regular fail-safe reviews are essential for responsible nuclear stewardship

Failsafe France NPT Nuclear Security Nuclear Weapons Risk Reduction United Kingdom Emerging Disruptive Technologies and Risk Reduction ELN
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In times of eroding arms control measures, nuclear-weapons states should consider enhancing transparency around their nuclear safety, security and reliability mechanisms (‘fail-safe’) to strengthen the risk reduction agenda. The P3, claiming the status as responsible nuclear-weapon states, have a particular responsibility to drive forward the agenda.

This policy brief, “Guarding the unthinkable: Why regular fail-safe reviews are essential for responsible nuclear stewardship“, by ELN Senior Policy Fellow Julia Berghofer, shows how France and the UK can advance fail-safe individually and bilaterally, as well as in the P3 and P5 contexts. Non-nuclear-weapon states parties to the NPT and members of NATO could also support this:

  • France, as a good example of strong safety and security governance, could provide more transparency around these measures in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) context and it could engage on the issue in the P5 format.
  • The UK could provide more information to their public and Parliament, as part of the ‘National Endeavour’ communications campaign. It could likewise address the issue in the NPT context and place it on the P5 agenda.
  • The P3 could collectively address the issue in an NPT working paper, and provide insights to NATO allies.
  • Non-nuclear weapon states could support the endeavour by making fail-safe a regular topic of discussion in the NPT.

Read the policy brief here

The Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), Euro-Atlantic Security Leadership Group (EASLG), Asia-Pacific Leadership Network (APLN), and European Leadership Network (ELN) have worked since March 2020 to highlight the benefits of independent, internal “fail-safe” reviews in nuclear-armed states. This policy brief is part of the ELN’s project on nuclear fail-safe.

The European Leadership Network itself as an institution holds no formal policy positions. The opinions articulated in this policy brief represent the views of the author rather than the European Leadership Network or its members. The ELN aims to encourage debates that will help develop Europe’s capacity to address the pressing foreign, defence, and security policy challenges of our time, to further its charitable purposes.

Image: Alamy, David Coleman | Have Camera Will Travel

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