Nuclear scientist Dr Christopher Watson, Emeritus Fellow of Corpus Christi College, Oxford, passed away on August 17, 2022.

After Rugby, Christopher read chemistry at Corpus Christi graduating in 1957. He took up a Junior Research Fellowship in Physics at Merton in 1965 and went on to have a 35-year career in the UK nuclear industry, including 17 years working on controlled fusion research at Culham, culminating in five years on the JET project.

Christopher then worked as a research manager in offshore technology and nuclear robotics, before becoming the Business Development Manager for AEA Technology in Russia, developing collaborative programmes with Russian colleagues in the management of the former Soviet Union’s nuclear legacy.

After retirement in 2002, he was a consultant to the UK government in several aid programmes, including on the nuclear legacy in north-west Russia and more recently in the Closed Nuclear Cities Partnership programme. He participated in British Pugwash (a membership organisation that brings together scientists and others concerned with international affairs and disarmament) from 1969 and was elected to its Executive Committee, becoming chair in 2011. In that role, he helped British Pugwash diversify into energy policy and encouraged the UK to develop a more co-ordinated approach to nuclear disarmament.

Adapted from Merton College, Oxford website.