Responsible Science

We currently focus on four main issues: disarmament and security, climate change and energy, questions of who controls science and technology and issues surrounding new and emerging technologies. You will also see that we work on some other issues too. You can explore these with the menu on the left of this page and with the search function. Material in this section includes all SGR's main outputs since 2005, with a selection of the more important material from before then.

Skills shortages - will nuclear or renewables lose out?

With the announcement of new nuclear power stations for the UK, Stuart Parkinson questions whether there will be enough skilled workers to deliver them, and asks whether the attempt will divert workers from sectors such as renewable energy.

Article from SGR Newsletter no. 33, winter 2007
 

Guns and Global Warming: War, Peace and the Environment

Notes of a presentation given by Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, at the Network for Peace AGM, London.

10 February 2007

The Future of the United Kingdom's Nuclear Deterrent: SGR Response

Submission to the Defence Committee Inquiry, January 2007

Keeping nuclear weapons or tackling climate change?

Presentation by Dr Stuart Parkinson, SGR, at a seminar organised by the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, at the Houses of Parliament in December, 2006

The presentation uses government and industry data to carry out a new analysis of the degree to which Trident replacement could undermine action on climate change. It concludes there is significant threat - due to competition for both funding and skills.
 

The Future of the Strategic Nuclear Deterrent - the UK manufacturing and skills base: SGR Response

Submission to the House of Commons Defence Select Committee, November 2006

New Nuclear Build: SGR Response

Response to Consultation on the UK Government's Policy Framework for New Nuclear Build, submitted on 31 October 2006
 

Career choice and the chemical industry

SGR briefing by Anne Chapman, October 2006

The chemical industry is one of the major employers in science and technology. On the one hand, its products have greatly expanded the range of materials available to society but, on the other, some of the synthetic chemicals it produces cause significant harm to human health and to the environment. This briefing discusses the main ethical issues related to this industrial sector, as well as new developments in regulation and technology, and assesses how these affect career choice. It points to areas which have potential to improve the environmental and health performance of the sector.
 

Issues