The U.K. has more than 100 tons of plutonium which is not needed anymore. It is the world’s largest civilian stockpile. One of the solutions pursued by the British Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA) is the use of this plutonium as fuel in the fast-spectrum PRISM reactor. Hereby, the plutonium is to be rendered proliferation resistant.

Together with her colleagues Christopher Fichtlscherer (Universität Hamburg) and Moritz Kütt (IFSH) Friederike Frieß analyzed this option using computer simulations. The results have now been published under the title “Assessing the PRISM reactor as a disposition option for the British plutonium stockpile” in Science and Global Security  (https://doi.org/10.1080/08929882.2019.1681736).

In the course of the project to investigate the conflict potential of new self-propagating genetic technologies (GD-conflict) four plausible scenarios have been developed. Three of these scenarios are based on the currently most advanced Gene Drive projects. Another scenario is dedicated to the potential of Horizontal Environmental Genetic Alteration Agents (HEGAA) technology for biological warfare. At the workshop at our project partners at the Carl Friedrich von Weizsäcker Center for Natural Sciences and Peace Research at the University of Hamburg (ZNF), these scenarios were presented to a panel of experts from the fields of evolutionary biology, ecology, international law, risk assessment and GMO regulation. The experts critically assessed the plausibility of the scenarios and gave advice for improvement.

On the second day of the workshop, two selected Gene Drive scenarios were revised in break-out groups and then presented and critically discussed. The conception of such future scenarios serves to point out possible conflict potentials in legal, political, ethical and social terms. The findings will be published in a joint publication.

Information on conference:

SCIENCE · PEACE · SECURITY ’19 | https://sps.peasec.de

26.-27.9.2019 | Lichtenberg-Haus, Darmstadt, Germany

TU Darmstadt, CYSEC, PEASEC, CROSSING, IANUS, FONAS, P&D, AICES, ZNF, ISFH

Scientific discoveries and technological innovations have always exerted a great influence on peace and security. New civil and military technologies are revolutionizing warfare. Particularly striking areas are cyber warfare and the rapid development of unmanned weapons systems. Issues of nuclear disarmament, missile defense or space armament as well as chemical and biological weapons are again becoming more urgent. Furthermore, frequent use of chemical weapons may lead to erosion of trust in arms control treaties.

The conference SCIENCE · PEACE · SECURITY ’19 aims for an accurate understanding and fruitful discussions of today’s and tomorrow’s peace and security challenges. This includes scientific-technical as well as interdisciplinary contributions, focusing on problems of international security and peacebuilding as well as contributions dedicated to transparency, trust-building, arms control, disarmament, and conflict management.

We invite researchers and practitioners to contribute to this conference. Accepted papers will prospectively be published in the form of conference proceedings (as papers or abstracts) and best papers in a journal special issue (“Science and Global Security”). Taking the 30-years tradition of IANUS at the TU Darmstadt into account, the conference aims at connecting experts across the disciplines to discuss the urgent challenges for global peace and security.

TRACKS AND CHAIRS

– Cyber-Security, Cyber-War and Cyber-Peace (Prof. Christian Reuter, TU Darmstadt)

– Nuclear Nonproliferation/Disarmament (Prof. Malte Göttsche, RWTH Aachen)

– Biological/Chemical Weapons (Dr. Mirko Himmel, Uni Hamburg)

– Future Arms Control (Dr. Jürgen Altmann, TU Dortmund)

Deadline for talks, posters or papers: April 1st, 2019

We look forward to seeing you in DARMSTADT at SCIENCE · PEACE · SECURITY ’19. | https://sps.peasec.de