NTI and Partners Champion Global Nuclear Fail-Safe

Over the past five years, NTI has championed globally a groundbreaking new policy initiative to reduce nuclear risk – the independent review of the safety, security, and reliability of nuclear weapons and related systems in nuclear-armed states. Such “fail-safe” reviews are critical for identifying and putting in place safeguards that could minimize the risk of unauthorized, inadvertent, or mistaken use of a nuclear weapon, including through false warning of an attack.

The first such review in more than 30 years was completed in the United States in 2024. Mandated under the 2022 National Defense Authorization Act, the independent fail-safe review covered all U.S. nuclear systems. NTI is now working to build on the U.S. review by collaborating with non-governmental partners in Europe and Asia to build awareness of and support for nuclear fail-safe reviews as a key step to reduce nuclear risks.

Over the past year, these efforts have included dedicated workshops on the topic with experts and government officials in China, India, Pakistan, France, and the United Kingdom, where NTI and its partners have explained and discussed why all nuclear-armed states should conduct fail-safe reviews of their own.

“In our cyber age, it is critical that nuclear-armed states take every measure possible to reduce the risk of accidental or unintentional nuclear use,” said NTI Co-Founder and Co-Chair Sam Nunn. “We applaud Congress’s leadership in mandating the U.S. fail-safe review, particularly the Armed Services Committees in the House and Senate. We are also very grateful for the support of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, which helped make this work possible.”

Summaries of the workshops and more about NTI’s fail-safe initiative can be found here.