Appendix I

Example Charter for the National Security Council’s External Advisory Board for Monitoring, Detection, and Verification Assessment

This committee shall be known as the National Security Council’s Monitoring, Detection, and Verification Assessment Board (MDVA Board).

The objective and scope of activities for the MDVA Board will be to continuously assess the changing proliferation and arms control environment and needs, actively seek and identify new approaches and technologies to address anticipated challenges and evolving threats, assess current research and development (R&D) programs, and suggest new avenues for exploration, including ideas beyond current mainstream thinking. The Board should also encourage ingestion of commercial technologies where appropriate. The Board’s work is expected to inform government planning and resource allocation, and to ensure that the MDV mission is sustained and that needs in the 10- to 20-year time horizon are anticipated. The Board will also assess government agencies’ five-year plans to ensure that, when integrated, they address near-, mid-, and long-term gaps efficiently and effectively. The Board’s advice will help the government provide early, assured indications of proliferation and position the United States to verify arms control treaties or agreements in the U.S. national security interest.

Duties will include advising the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) and the National Security Council (NSC) and its staff on any issues associated with monitoring, detection, and verification of nuclear weapons, fissile materials, and potentially other weapons of mass destruction.

The Board will report to the Director of OSTP, who will share the Board’s advice with the NSC and its staff.

The estimated number and frequency of meetings is quarterly throughout the fiscal year. It is anticipated that the Board will be continuing in nature.

Membership on the Board will include experienced individuals outside the government including experts on arms control and nonproliferation policy, R&D, and operational procedures. Knowledge of the national laboratories, academic, and industrial capabilities, as well as the needs of the user communities, is essential.