11th March 2020 Geneva, Switzerland
Working on nuclear issues is hard – not only understanding the science behind it, but also its complicated politics and history. To help me do nuclear diplomacy better, I wanted to improve my awareness of how the nuclear fuel cycle works. That is why earlier this year I visited five nuclear sites – three in […]
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5th May 2017 Vienna, Austria
Hundreds of anopheles mosquitoes are drinking warm blood. Nearby, thousands of fruit fly larvae are tucking into a tasty compote of fruit, writhing, munching and even, alarmingly, jumping in the air. In another part of the lab tsetse flies – hardest to breed – sit solemnly in mesh containers, from which they too can drink […]
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11th November 2016 Vienna, Austria
Just over 55 years ago, on 30 October 1961, the largest nuclear weapon ever constructed was set off over Novaya Zemlya island in the Arctic Sea. The Soviet Tsar Bomba had a yield of 50 megatons, several thousand times as strong as the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The mushroom cloud reached around 60 kilometers into […]
19th October 2016 Vienna, Austria
So what really happens at a General Conference of the IAEA – the International Atomic Energy Agency? Delegates from 168 countries converge on the HQ of the IAEA in Vienna. They hold many meetings; and, after a week, most of them return to their countries. But why? It’s always difficult explaining what diplomats do. It’s […]
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21st November 2014 Mumbai, India
Earlier this week, Prof. Robin Grimes, FCO’s Chief Scientific Adviser visited Mumbai. I accompanied him for meetings at the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Atomic Energy Regulatory Board (AERB), and finally, Larsen & Toubro (L&T). This is what he thought… My first meeting was with Dr. R K Sinha, […]
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20th June 2014 Mumbai, India
Last week, I spent two days (11-12 June) with nuclear scientists from the UK and India at Oxford. The meeting, facilitated by RCUK India and co-organised by the EPSRC and Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), was held to outline proposals for joint research projects under the Phase III programme of UK-India collaboration in civil nuclear […]
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21st October 2013 Paris, France
This week is a very important moment for our two countries in terms of our commercial cooperation. We’re going to be making an agreement in principle between the government in London, EDF and Areva for the construction of a new nuclear power station site at Hinkley point in Somerset.
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20th June 2013 Ottawa, Canada
The nuclear renaissance The detrimental impact of the coal industry on the environment, concerns over depleting fossil fuel reserves, and difficulty in keeping carbon emissions at bay has landed nuclear power back on top of the UK’s political agenda. Currently, the 16 reactors in the UK contribute 19% of electricity to the energy mix, and […]
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4th April 2013
2013 sees the 50th anniversary of Pope John XXIII’s great encyclical Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth), addressed “to all people of good will”. In the encyclical, Pope John called on states to reduce arms stockpiles – nuclear and conventional – and for “a general agreement … about progressive disarmament and an effective method of […]
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11th February 2013 Warsaw, Poland
With this in mind UKTI organised a week long UK roadshow 4-8 February focused on promoting the opportunity and holding in depth meetings with UK companies interested in expanding their business in the region. The week kicked off on Sunday evening with an inaugural dinner of the Emerging Europe Energy Council hosted by UKTI Business […]
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