This seminar will be held in a hybrid format. To join this seminar online, please register through this link: Register Here

Abstract

The work reported in this seminar was undertaken for a UK Foreign, Commonwealth, and Development Office project and discussed in Chatham House terms with senior figures at the Ministry of Defence. It explores the reversibility of the UK's commitment to nuclear weapons-based security strategies and the broader potential for nuclear disarmament. In short, the analysis highlights how civil and military nuclear technologies are deeply interconnected through skills, supply chains, and financial flows. It argues that the UK’s nuclear commitments impose significant economic costs, conservatively estimated at over £5 billion annually. Additionally, it critiques the secrecy surrounding the UK's nuclear policies, which limits transparent policy-making and obstructs exploration of alternative energy and security strategies. The report concludes that, despite powerful vested interests, the reversal of nuclear strategies in the UK is historically realistic and increasingly necessary, with alternative approaches offering better outcomes for energy, security, and the national economy. The particular presentation given here was developed from this work for a keynote address to a recent international conference in Paris on social science of nuclear power and focuses on the theme of concurrent civil and military nuclear obsolescence.

Biography

Professor Andy Stirling is Professor of Science and Technology Policy in the Science Policy Research Unit at Sussex University . Focusing especially on issues of power, uncertainty and diversity in science and society, he’s been a member of UK, EU and UN bodies on energy policy, toxic substances, GM Crops, science advice, public engagement, science advice and social transformation. Alongside past work with Greenpeace, he has also advised the Royal Society, Nuffield Council and European Science Foundation. A fellow of the UK Academy of Social Sciences, he’s served on the ESRC Research Committee, and in the 2021 UK ‘Research Excellence Framework’. He recently served as independent advisor to the official evaluation of the UK Government’s Nuclear Innovation Programme.

Dr Phil Johnstone is a Senior Research Fellow at the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU), University of Sussex. He currently works on and is the Sussex Principal Investigator for the Deep Transitions Lab project that works with financial investors to help develop transformative investment approaches for sustainability. Phil has worked on a number of topics over the years spanning energy transitions, phase out policies, theories of the state, the role of shocks including warfare and militaries in sociotechnical change, and long-running work on nuclear policy particularly in relation to civil-military interdependencies. He has contributed to a number of governmental inquiries including on Welsh nuclear policy, Deep Geological disposal, and Hinkley C.

By: Ruby Loughman
Last updated: Thursday, 24 October 2024