UK PONI
The project aims to support the development of a tightly-knit community of emerging voices that have the potential to influence the nuclear field. Whether you are an early-career professional, an undergraduate or postgraduate student, join us and help build this community from the ground up!
Latest Events
This event will see participants play through a nuclear-focused version of the Dstl's CONTESTED wargame. No prior wargaming experience is required, but an interest in nuclear deterrence is desirable.
Connecting across boundaries
UK PONI draws together the broad range of communities of emerging nuclear specialists, principally addressing the technical-policy, senior-junior, government-nongovernment, and military-civilian divides. UK PONI will continue to engage the civil nuclear community, and to provide specialists in nuclear weapons issues some exposure to civil nuclear issues, but it will do this in partnership with similar organisations in the civil nuclear sector, rather than seeking to develop a distinct new offering.
Developing, including and representing
UK PONI provides knowledge or skills development opportunities for its members that can be more directly tied to their personal development plans. This incorporates continued efforts to promote diversity of inclusion and representation in the opportunities and platforms provided by UK PONI events and activities, and the formalisation with a range of suitable partners of our commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Providing a platform for emerging talent
UK PONI offers a range of platforms for emerging nuclear specialists to expose their skills and knowledge to broader audiences, in the UK and overseas, allowing more developed individuals to explore and exploit new opportunities, and sustaining their interest in nuclear weapons issues.
Stay update with UK PONI
Our team
Our dedicated team brings a diversity of expertise, approaches and perspectives. If you are interested in collaborating with our project, please send us an email at ukponi@rusi.org.
UK PONI enjoys the support and guidance of its Board of Advisors, which includes representatives from government, industry, the military, and academia.
Board of Advisors
Fiona Barton
UK PONI Advisory Board Member
Dominic Bethencourt-Smith
UK PONI Advisory Board Member
Mat Budsworth, UK PONI Advisory Board Member
M. Elaine Bunn
RUSI Senior Associate Fellow, Proliferation and Nuclear Policy
Malcolm Chalmers
Former Deputy Director General, RUSI
Professor Deeph Chana
UK PONI Advisory Board Member
Stuart Cutting
UK PONI Advisory Board Member
Karl Evans
UK PONI Advisory Board Member
Professor Andrew Futter
UK PONI Advisory Board Member
David Jarvis
RUSI Senior Associate Fellow, Proliferation and Nuclear Policy
John McGiff, Head of Strategic Systems Engineering, Babcock International Group
UK PONI is funded and supported by a consortium of government and industry stakeholders. This support allows UK PONI to maintain an independent forum where younger scholars can contribute new ideas on on-going nuclear issues.
Gold Sponsors
AWE - Nuclear Security Technologies
For almost 70 years, AWE has supported the UK government’s nuclear defence strategy and the Continuous At Sea Deterrent by researching, designing, manufacturing and assuring the nation’s nuclear warheads. AWE also uses its nuclear know-how and technical expertise to provide innovative solutions that support the UK’s counter terrorism and nuclear threat reduction activities. AWE’s mission is unique and so are its people. AWE works to attract, motivate, develop and retain the best talent and equip its people with the right skills for the future. AWE is a team of more than 5,000 people – proud to be part of such an important mission and proud of their responsibilities to their customer, the Ministry of Defence, and their shareholders. AWE aims to build enduring relationships with their government customers, international partners, suppliers and communities in the locations where they operate. AWE was named as one of the top Best Big Companies to work for at the Sunday Times Best Companies Awards in 2019.
Defence Nuclear Organisation (DNO) | Ministry of Defence
The Defence Nuclear Organisation (DNO) sits within the Ministry of Defence and manages the UK Government’s portfolio of defence nuclear programmes, overseeing all defence nuclear business excluding operations. Established in 2016, it is made up of over 750 people working in London, Bristol, Reading and Scotland. Our mission is to keep safe and capable submarines at sea, maintain our nuclear warheads and deliver the nuclear deterrent to protect national and global security. The UK needs a capable and credible nuclear deterrent to successfully deter the most extreme threats to our national security and way of life - DNO consists of the people, equipment and infrastructure required to make that happen. The Defence Nuclear Organisation engages in scientific research; delivery of nuclear warheads; submarine procurement and disposal; provision of specialised infrastructure; nuclear disposal; advising on UK nuclear policy, planning and international co-operation on nuclear matters; as well as sustaining specialist skills, conducting assurance and emergency response arrangements. DNO also sponsors the Defence Nuclear Enterprise, which includes all the organisations, programmes and people within government that sustain the UK’s independent nuclear deterrent.
United Kingdom National Nuclear Laboratory
As the UK’s national laboratory for nuclear fission, UKNNL is harnessing nuclear science to help solve some of the world’s biggest challenges. We channel our work into four strategic areas: Clean Energy, Health and Nuclear Medicine, Environmental Restoration and Security and Non-Proliferation. These four Focus Areas are the cornerstones of our ambition, shaping what we deliver to our customers and for UK society, and how we invest in our future. We are custodians of a unique set of facilities and capabilities that enable ground-breaking nuclear research and development – including four world-leading laboratories in the North West of England. At a time when society is waking up to acting on the environmental crisis our planet faces, it is impossible to overestimate the scale of the challenge ahead for the UK in reaching net zero by 2050. Without nuclear, the UK will not meet this target on time. And without UKNNL's work, the UK nuclear sector cannot deliver what is required.
Upcoming event
Event recordings
Past events
Across two afternoons, participants will take part in expert-led webinars featuring speakers from the UK Ministry of Defence, King’s College London, the British Red Cross, the University of York, and RUSI.
This informative workshop covers the basics of nuclear physics, nuclear weapons and delivery systems. It is ideal for early career professionals in nuclear policy.
UK PONI and VERTIC host a panel discussion of John R. Walker's new book ‘Britain & Weapons of Mass Destruction Verification’
The UK PONI Annual Conference 2025 brings together the next generation of nuclear professionals alongside established voices from across the sector to explore the most pressing issues shaping the nuclear landscape today.
We delivered a series of seminars over two days given by RUSI fellows, and external experts from the UK MoD, the British Red Cross, and others working on nuclear policy matters.
UK PONI hosted a discussion on the technological, geopolitical and normative pressures driving the world into a new, more complex and potentially more dangerous Third Nuclear Age.
UK PONI, in collaboration with the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl), engages the next generation of scientists, analysts and researchers on nuclear deterrence wargaming.
Attend our informative workshop covering the basics of nuclear physics, nuclear weapons and delivery systems. Ideal for early career professionals in nuclear policy.
View the UK's flagship conference for showcasing the expertise of the next generation of nuclear experts.
UK PONI members enjoyed an evening of friendly competition and the chance to test your nuclear knowledge while meeting others in the community.
This two-day introductory online training course consisted of a series of seminars delivered by RUSI fellows and external experts from the UK Ministry of Defence, as well as think tanks and other academic organisations working on nuclear policy matters.
A discussion was held with nuclear submarine (SSN) captain and ‘Perisher’ teacher Ryan Ramsey on his recent book, A View from Below (2023), followed by a drinks reception.
UK PONI hosted an off-the-record discussion on the main findings and implications of the report released by the Congressional Commission on the Strategic Posture of the United States with Commissioner Robert M. Scher.
UK PONI hosted its free annual introductory online training course covering the basics of nuclear technology for early career professionals.
A UK PONI-CSIS PONI collaboration of panel discussions, debates and simulation exercises with experts in the field taking place in Washington DC.
The 2023 conference addressed the current state-of-play and possible future trends in the nuclear field through panel presentations from rising experts on the following topics: the AUKUS partnership in the new nuclear age; continuity and change in the UK’s approach to deterrence; nuclear security and non-proliferation in a new era for nuclear energy; and deciphering Chinese nuclear thinking.
UK PONI hosted a roundtable with Frank Rose, Principal Deputy Administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which brought together mid-career experts from industry, government and academia to discuss key issues facing the US nuclear enterprise.
The sessions included introductions to nuclear deterrence, disarmament, and non-proliferation, as well as the impact of emerging and disruptive technologies on nuclear weapons decision-making.
Every year, UK PONI collaborates with CSIS PONI to organise a weeklong exchange of early- and mid-career academics and professionals in the nuclear field to study, explore, and expand the role of the ‘special relationship’ in the field.
UK PONI hosted its annual introductory workshop covering the basics of nuclear technology for early career professionals.
The 2022 conference addressed the current state-of-play and possible future trends in the nuclear field through panel presentations from emerging experts on the following topics: The nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament landscape; The UK nuclear enterprise and the sustainability of nuclear skills; Future nuclear technologies; The motivations and implications of China’s nuclear modernisation.
Hosted at STRATCOM in Omaha, NE, this event was the final conference in the 2021 US PONI Conference Series.
The workshop consisted of a series of seminars from both RUSI staff and external speakers from the UK Ministry of Defence, N Square, VERTIC, and the European Leadership Network.
The workshop consisted of a series of seminars from both RUSI staff and external speakers (Lockheed Martin, Babcock, UK National Nuclear Laboratory) covering the basics of nuclear technology including fuel cycles, nuclear weapons and delivery systems, security and safeguards.
In this webinar, Professor Dill and Professor Sagan provided insights on public attitudes towards the use of nuclear weapons in four nuclear-armed democratic states.
The 2021 UK PONI Annual Conference provided participants with a platform from which to discuss and debate new nuclear thinking, a forum in which to meet nuclear specialists from a variety of fields, and a knowledge exchange between established and emerging nuclear thinkers.
The event brings together emerging technical, operational, and policy experts from across the nuclear community to debate and discuss the most significant changes to the UK’s nuclear weapons posture in at least two decades.
The workshop, aimed at early career professionals working in the nuclear technology field, consisted of a series of seminars from both RUSI staff and external speakers on nuclear policy basics covering deterrence, disarmament, non-proliferation, and nuclear programmes worldwide.
