Ploughshares
August 2, 2024
  1. ABM – Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty: An arms control treaty between the US and the Soviet Union on the limitation of the anti-ballistic missile systems used in defending areas against ballistic missile-delivered nuclear weapons; from 1972—2002. 
  2. CTBT – Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty: Bans nuclear tests for both civilian and military purposes, signed in 1996, not yet entered into force. 
  3. IAEA – International Atomic Energy Agency: Center for cooperation in the nuclear field, promoting the safe, secure & peaceful use of nuclear technology. 
  4. ICBM – Intercontinental Ballistic Missile: A missile with a minimum range of 5,500 km, primarily designed for the delivery of nuclear weapons. 
  5. INF Treaty – Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty: The treaty between the US and Soviet Union banning all of their land-based ballistic missiles, cruise missiles, and missile launchers with ranges of 500–1,000 km; effective from 1988-2019. 
  6. JCPOA – Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action, commonly known as the Iran nuclear deal or Iran deal, is an agreement on the Iranian nuclear program reached in Vienna on 14 July 2015, between Iran and the P5+1 together with the European Union. 
  7. LTBT – Limited Test Ban Treaty, also known as the Partial Test Ban Treaty, is a multilateral treaty that bans nuclear weapons tests in the atmosphere, outer space, and underwater. 
  8. MAD – Mutually Assured Destruction is the principle of deterrence founded on the notion that a nuclear attack by one superpower would be met with an overwhelming nuclear counterattack such that both the attacker and the defender would be annihilated.
  9. MaRV – Manoeuvrable re-entry vehicle: a missile that has one or more warheads that may be controlled so as to avoid enemy defenses.
  10. MIRV – Multiple Independently Targetable Reentry Vehicle. It’s a technology that allows a single missile to carry multiple warheads, each of which can be aimed at a different target. 
  11. MRV – Multiple reentry vehicle, which is a type of missile that has multiple warheads. 
  12. NATO  – North Atlantic Treaty Organisation: intergovernmental military alliance between 30 European and North American countries since 1949, currently led by Norwegian Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. 
  13. NBC weapons – Nuclear, biological, chemical weapons. 
  14. NDAA – The National Defense Authorization Act is any of a series of United States federal laws specifying the annual budget and expenditures of the U.S. Department of Defense.
  15. NFU – No First Use Policy is a pledge or commitment by a nuclear power to not use nuclear weapons first in warfare. This would mean that nuclear weapons would only be used in response to a nuclear attack on the country or its allies. 
  16. NUTS – Nuclear Utilization Targeting Selection is a hypothesis that suggests nuclear weapons can be used in limited exchanges without causing a global thermonuclear war. The theory was developed in the late 1970s and 1980s and is often associated with the nuclear policies of President Jimmy Carter and President Ronald Reagan’s first term. 
  17. NPG – NATO Nuclear Planning Group: a senior body on nuclear matters in the Alliance discussing specific policy issues associated with nuclear forces. 
  18. NPR: The Nuclear Posture Review is a legislatively-mandated process that establishes the United States’ nuclear policy, strategy, and capabilities for the next five to ten years. It’s the primary document for determining U.S. nuclear weapons strategy and is usually led by the Department of Defense. The NPR is based on an extensive internal policy review.
  19. NPT – Non-proliferation treaty or Treaty on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons: an international treaty to limit the spread of nuclear weapons, effective since 1970. 
  20. NWFZ – Nuclear (Weapon) Free Zone is a legally binding agreement between a group of states that prohibits the development, manufacturing, control, possession, testing, stationing, and transport of nuclear weapons in a specific geographical area.
  21. PAROS – Prevention of an Arms Race in Outer Space: committee subsidiary to the Conference on Disarmament, forum for discussion on preventing an arms race in outer space since 1985. 
  22. PTBT – Partial Test Ban Treaty: prohibited all test detonations of nuclear weapons except for those conducted underground, effective since 1963, partly succeeded by the CTBT. 
  23. RECA – Radiation Exposure Compensation Act is a law passed by Congress in 1990 that provides one-time cash payments to people who may have developed cancer or other diseases after being exposed to radiation from atomic weapons testing or uranium mining. 
  24. SALT – Strategic Arms Limitation Treaty: two rounds of bilateral conferences and corresponding international treaties involving the United States and the Soviet Union during the Cold War. 
  25. (New) START – Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty: a nuclear arms reduction treaty between the US and Russia, signed in 2010, extended in 2021 and expected to last until 5 February 2026. 
  26. TPNW – Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons: a treaty banning the developing, producing, storing, transferring, (threat of) using, testing, placing of- and providing of assistance with nuclear weapons; entered into force on 22 January 2021. 

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