CVC tests and CKM unitarity

The study of superallowed nuclear β-decay currently provides the most precise and convincing confirmation of the conservation of the vector current (CVC) and is a key component of the most demanding available test of the unitarity of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix, a basic pillar of the Electroweak Standard Model. The status of these fundamental studies is summarized and recent work described.