The 2016 UK PONI Papers

The issues surrounding nuclear weapons and nuclear energy are complex and multifaceted, and successive generations will be called upon to understand and manage them. Stakeholders from industry, the military, government and academia must therefore collectively foster the emergence of the next generation of nuclear experts and build a broad knowledge base, from technical intricacies to international security dynamics.

UK PONI aims to promote this next generation of nuclear expertise by establishing a forum where emerging and established specialists can exchange knowledge and develop fresh thinking on a range of contemporary nuclear issues. Each year, it invites emerging experts to present their research and ideas to an audience of established members of the UK nuclear community at the UK PONI Annual Conference. The presentations from the 2016 Annual Conference have been adapted by the experts for this publication.

 

Contents

Editors’ Note

I. Megatons and Megabytes: The Fallacy of the Nuclear–Cyber Deterrence Comparison
Patrick Cirenza

II. The UK’s Nuclear Options After Brexit
Daniel Davies

III. Big Projects, Big Challenges: Government Governance of the Successor Programme
Maria Szczyglowska

IV. Casualty Modelling Challenges
Jennifer Smith

V. H-Bombs and the Home Front: Implications of North Korea’s Nuclear Weapons in a byeongjin World
Alison Evans and Karl Dewey

VI. The UK Nuclear Skills Gap: Implications for Nuclear Knowledge
Helen Blue

VII. Nuclear Fuel Banks: Supply Security in Theory and Practice
Cristina Varriale and Ben Pearce

VIII. Nuclear Arms Control: Optimising Verification Processes Through Formal Modelling
Paul Beaumont

IX. Reducing the Lifetime of Nuclear Waste: How Long-lived is Too Long?
Matthew Gill

X. Transparency and Outreach in Civilian Nuclear Endeavours
Katherine Bachner

XI. South Korea’s Nuclear Policy and the Controversy Over the Claims for Nuclear Sovereignty
Zie Eun Yang

About the Authors