Pugwash UK

PROJECTS

Under Construction. Please watch this space for more information about these and other projects.

Joseph Rotblat Essay Competition

The British Pugwash Group holds an annual essay competition to honour the vision
of one of the founders of the Pugwash Conferences, Professor Sir Joseph Rotblat.

2008 Joseph Rotblat Essay Competition

Emmet Farragher, a first year physics student at University College London won this year's £500 prize, which was presented to him by Pugwash President Jayantha Dhanapala and British Pugwash Chair John Finney in June 2008. The essay is available in PDF format here: "An analysis of scenarios in which an independent British nuclear weapon could arguably be used, together with an examination of non-nuclear alternatives in each case" . It is also available in the June 2008 Pugwash Newsletter.

2009 Joseph Rotblat Essay Competition
No award made.

Independent Scientific Advising on Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Weapons

The British Pugwash Group is leading discussions on ways in which to strengthen independent scientific advising on WMD-related issues.

Recent activities:

Developing the Disarmament Laboratory Concept, British International Non-Proliferation, Arms Reduction and Disarmament Institute (BRINPARDI)

Christopher Watson, Merton College Oxford & British Pugwash Group.
Presented at "Progressing the nuclear disarmament agenda: Policy, diplomacy and science," the Rotblat Centenary Celebration, co-sponsored by the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs and the British Pugwash Group, Wednesday, 10 December 2008, The Royal Society.

The Role of Independent Scientists in Assessing the Threat of WMD, a NATO Advanced Research Workshop, co-directed by Professor John Finney (Chair, British Pugwash) and Professor Ivo Slaus (former Chair, Croatian Pugwash). Zagreb, 11-16 November 2008. For more information, click here.

Evidence-based policy or policy-based evidence? Nuclear weapons decision-making in Europe, Euroscience Open Forum, Barcelona, July 19. (For more information click here.)

Promoting a Nuclear Weapons Free World

Technical Critique of Trident Modernisation Arguments

British Pugwash is currently engaged in discussions on warhead-related issues, among other topics. Please check back for updates.

"Trident is ‘no bloody use’ says General", by Rob Edwards, Sunday Herald (Glasgow), 26 April 2009. BPG Council Member Sir Hugh Beach calls for nuclear decommissioning: "It's no bloody use. Let's not waste money on it." (click here).

The Need for Robust Independent Assessment of Rationales for New Warheads, comment by BPG Chair John Finney and Sandra Ionno Butcher, 25 July 2008.

Activities Preceding the Trident Submarine Replacement Vote: The UK as an auspicious place to start eliminating nuclear weapons , (April 2007)

History

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the first Pugwash Conference, on 7 July 2007, Prof. John Finney and Sandra Ionno Butcher participated in a ceremony during which a letter from Robert Hinde formally presented Joseph Rotblat's Nobel Peace Prize to the Pugwash Peace Exchange.

Sandra Ionno Butcher also delivered a talk on the history of Pugwash on 7 July 2007, for the townspeople of Pugwash, Nova Scotia. This talk, "What Pugwash Means to the World."

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Please click here to see projects archives.