UK Nuclear Weapons Catastrophe Making

The report assesses the risks of the UK's nuclear weapons deployment, noting that a single Trident submarine carries firepower equivalent to 320 Hiroshima bombs, capable of causing over 10 million civilian casualties and global climatic disruption leading to mass starvation. It further argues that the constant patrol of these weapons creates an unacceptable risk of unintended use with catastrophic consequences.

• A single Trident submarine carries nuclear weapons with an explosive power equivalent to approximately 320 Hiroshima bombs, which could result in more than 10 million civilian casualties.
• Current scientific models indicate that the firepower of the UK's nuclear weapons would cause severe climatic disruption, threatening global food security and causing mass starvation.
• The continuous 24-hour patrol of UK nuclear weapons presents an unacceptable risk of unintended use, which would have catastrophic consequences despite a potentially low probability of occurrence.

APA

Webber, P., & Parkinson, S. (2015). UK Nuclear Weapons Catastrophe Making. Scientists for Global Responsibility. https://www.sgr.org.uk/publications/uk-nuclear-weapons-catastrophe-making

Chicago

Webber, Philip, and Stuart Parkinson. UK Nuclear Weapons Catastrophe Making. Scientists for Global Responsibility, 2015. https://www.sgr.org.uk/publications/uk-nuclear-weapons-catastrophe-making.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Webber |first1=Philip |last2=Parkinson |first2=Stuart |title=UK Nuclear Weapons Catastrophe Making |publisher=Scientists for Global Responsibility |date=August 2015 |url=https://www.sgr.org.uk/publications/uk-nuclear-weapons-catastrophe-making |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{webber2015nuclear, author = {Webber, Philip and Parkinson, Stuart}, title = {{UK Nuclear Weapons Catastrophe Making}}, institution = {Scientists for Global Responsibility}, year = {2015}, month = aug, url = {https://www.sgr.org.uk/publications/uk-nuclear-weapons-catastrophe-making}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }