Sébastien Philippe is a Research Scholar with Princeton University’s Program on Science and Global Security. His research includes nuclear non-proliferation, arms control, disarmament, and justice issues. He is the co-author of Toxique(French University Press, 2021), an investigation into the radiological and environmental impact of French nuclear tests in the Pacific, which was a Finalist for the 2021 Albert Londres Prize (the French equivalent of the Pulitzer) and won a 2022 Sigma Award for best data journalism in the world, among other accolades. Philippe received his PhD in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Princeton, was a Stanton Nuclear Security Postdoctoral fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, and has served as a nuclear weapon system safety engineer in France's Ministry of Armed Forces.
Research Interests
My research combines science, engineering, and public policy to assess, manage, and reduce the risks associated with nuclear weapons and emerging technologies to national and international security. My work support domestic policies and international diplomatic processes concerned with nuclear arms control, nonproliferation, disarmament and justice issues, as well as the impact of emerging technologies on global security.
My current research agenda focuses on three areas: first, the development of monitoring and verification technologies to enable nuclear arms control and disarmament processes; second, the development of modeling methods to assess the radiological consequences of past and future nuclear weapon use on people and planet; and, third, the assessment of emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence, cyber capabilities and quantum technologies, to study their impact on the safety, security, and vulnerability of strategic nuclear forces.
Publications
Book
Toxique, Presses Universitaires de France (PUF), 2021 (2nd edition published in 2024), with Tomas Statius. (Toxic: Investigating the Legacy of French nuclear testing in the Pacific, English translation ongoing). Awards: Finalist for the 2021 Albert Londres Prize (France’s highest journalism award); Winner for best investigation, 2021 DIG AWARDS, Italy; Runner-up for 2021 Arms Control Person of the Year, USA; Winner for best data journalism in the world, 2022 Sigma Awards, USA
Major multimedia projects
The Missiles on Our Land, 2023, Principal Investigator, with Nuclear Princeton, Columbia University's School of Journalism and Scientific American.
Moruroa Files, 2021, co-Principal Investigator, with INTERPRT and Disclose. Winner for best investigation, 2021 DIG AWARDS, Italy; Winner for best data journalism in the world, 2022 Sigma Awards, USA.
Pre-print articles
S. Philippe, S. Alzner, G. P. Compo, M. Grimshaw, and M. Smith. Fallout from US atmospheric nuclear tests in New Mexico and Nevada (1945-1962). arXiv preprint arXiv:2307.11040 (2023).
Peer-reviewed articles
12. J. Tobisch, S. Philippe et al. Remote inspection of adversary-controlled environments. Nature Communications 14, 6566 (2023). DOI: DOI: 10.1080/08929882.2023.2215590
11. S. Philippe and I. Stepanov (2023) Radioactive Fallout and Potential Fatalities from Nuclear Attacks on China’s New Missile Silo Fields, Science & Global Security, 31:1-2, 3-15, DOI: 10.1080/08929882.2023.2215590
10. S. Philippe, S. Schoenberger, N. Ahmed (2022), “Radiation Exposures and Compensation of Victims of French Atmospheric Nuclear Tests in Polynesia,” Science and Global Security, 30:2, 1-33, DOI: 10.1080/08929882.2022.2111757
9. B. Pelopidas and S. Philippe (2021), “Unfit for purpose: reassessing the development and deployment of French nuclear weapons (1956–1974),” Cold War History, 21:3, 243-260, DOI: 10.1080/14682745.2020.1832472
8. S. Philippe and F. d’Errico, “A physical unclonable neutron sensor for nuclear arms control inspections,” Scientific Reports 10, 20605 (2020), DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-77459-3
7. A. Glaser, B. Barak, M. Kütt and S. Philippe (2020), “Physical Public Templates for Nuclear Warhead Verification,” Science & Global Security, 28:1, 48–59, DOI: 10.1080/08929882.2020.1728885
6. T. Patton, S. Philippe, and Z. Mian (2019), “Fit for Purpose: An Evolutionary Strategy for the Implementation and Verification of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons,” Journal for Peace and Nuclear Disarmament, 2:2, 387–409, DOI: 10.1080/25751654.2019.1666699
5. S. Philippe, A. Glaser and E. W. Felten (2019), “A Cryptographic Escrow for Treaty Declarations and Step-by-Step Verification,” Science & Global Security, Vol. 27, Iss. 1: 1–12.
4. F. d'Errico, A. Chierici, M. Gattas-Sethi, S. Philippe, R. J. Goldston and A. Glaser (2018), “New Developments and Applications of Superheated Emulsions: Warhead Verification and Special Nuclear Material Interdiction,” Radiation Protection Dosimetry, Vol. 180, Iss. 1–4: 210–214
3. S. Philippe, R. J. Goldston, A. Glaser and F. d'Errico (2016), “A Physical Zero-Knowledge Object-Comparison System for Nuclear Warhead Verification,” Nature Communications, 7:12890
2. S. Philippe (2014), “Safeguarding the Military Naval Nuclear Fuel Cycle,” Journal of Nuclear Materials Management, Vol. XLII, No.3: 40–52
1. S. Philippe and A. Glaser (2014), “Nuclear Archaeology for Gaseous Diffusion Enrichment Plants,” Science & Global Security, Vol. 22, Iss. 1: 27–49
Reports, public policy publications and opinion pieces (selected)
11. “Sacrifice Zones” in Scientific American Magazine Vol. 329 No. 5 (December 2023), p. 46-57 doi:10.1038/scientificamerican1223-46
10. “France” and “United Kingdom, ” in Global Fissile Material Report 2022, Fifty Years of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty: Nuclear Weapons, Fissile Materials, and Nuclear Energy, July 2022
9. “The TPNW and nuclear disarmament verification: shifting the paradigm,” with Z. Mian, in P. Podvig, “Verifying Disarmament in the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons,” United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research, June 2022
8. “The new Australia, UK, and US nuclear submarine announcement: a terrible decision for the nonproliferation regime,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, September 17, 2021
7. “Right of Launch: Command & Control Vulnerabilities after a Limited Nuclear Strike,” War on the Rocks, with B. Blair and S. Weiner, November 20, 2020
6. “The Increasing Peril of Nuclear Weapons and How Physicists Can Help Reduce the Threat,” APS News, 29(7), July/August 2020, with S. Prager, S. Fetter, A. Glaser, Z. Mian, and F. von Hippel
5. “How to Deal with Increasingly Complex Safety-Critical Technologies,” Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School, with N. Meshkati, March 28, 2019
4. “Monitoring and Verifying the Deployment of Solar Geoengineering,” in R. N. Stavins and R. C. Stoves (ed.), Governance of the Deployment of Solar Geoengineering, Harvard Project on Climate Agreements, 2019
3. “The Feasibility of Ending Highly Enriched Uranium Fuel Use in the US Navy,” Arms Control Today, Vol. 46, no. 9: 15–22, 2016, with F. von Hippel
2. “The Case for Independent Research on Nuclear Weapons in France,” The Conversation, July 12, 2016, with B. Pelopidas
1. “Bringing Law to the Sea: Safeguarding the Naval Nuclear Fuel Cycle,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, September 4, 2014
Book Chapter
“Secure Declaration,” in M. Goettsche and A. Glaser (ed.), Toward Nuclear Disarmament: Building up Transparency and Verification (German Federal Foreign Office, Berlin, 2021), DOI: 10.18154/RWTH-2021-04949
Conference proceedings (All from the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management Annual Meeting)
15. B. Barak, A. Glaser, M. Kütt, and S. Philippe (2018), “Physical Public Templates for Nuclear Warhead Verification,” 59th Meeting
14. M. Hepler, S. Philippe, A. Glaser, R. J. Goldston, and F. d'Errico (2018), “Not So Fast: Tailoring 14-MeV Neutrons for Zero-Knowledge Isotopic Comparison of Uranium Objects,” 59th Meeting
13. M. Hepler, R. J. Goldston, P. Kunkle, A. Glaser, J. E. G. Peek, and S. Philippe (2018), “Machine Vision for Imaging Bubbles: From the Interstellar Medium to Neutron Detectors for Zero-Knowledge Warhead Verification,” 59th Meeting
12. S. Philippe, R. Barnett, U. Rührmair and A. Glaser (2017), “Toward Trusted Sensors for Nuclear Arms Control Verification: Superheated Emulsions as Neutron-Sensitive Physical Unclonable Functions,” 58th Meeting
11. S. Philippe, A. Glaser and E. W. Felten (2017), “Cryptographic Escrow of Nuclear Warhead Inventories for Early Commitment and Non-intrusive Verification,” 58th Meeting
10. S. Philippe, M. Kütt, M. McKeown, A. Glaser and U. Rührmair (2016), “The Application of Virtual Proofs of Reality to Nuclear Safeguards and Arms Control Verification,” 57th Meeting
9. S. Philippe, A. Glaser, R. J. Goldston and F. d'Errico (2016), “Zero-Knowledge Differential Isotopic Comparison of Special Nuclear Materials,” 57th Meeting
8. F. von Hippel and S. Philippe (2016), “A Ban on the Production of Highly Enriched Uranium,” 57th Meeting
7. S. Philippe, R. J. Goldston, G. Ascione, F. d'Errico, C. Gentile and A. Glaser (2015), “Experimental Demonstration of a Physical Zero-knowledge Protocol for Nuclear Warhead Verification,” 56th Meeting
6. S. Philippe, B. Barak, and A. Glaser (2015), “Designing Protocols for Nuclear Weapons Verification,” 56th Meeting
5. M. Kütt, A. Glaser and S. Philippe (2015), “Leveraging the Wisdom of the Crowd: Hardware and Software Challenges for Nuclear Disarmament Verification,” 56th Meeting
4. S. Philippe (2014), “All at Sea? A Safeguards Approach for the Military Naval Nuclear Fuel Cycle,” 55th Meeting
3. M. Kütt , S. Philippe, B. Barak, A. Glaser and R. J. Goldston (2014), “Authenticating Nuclear Warheads With High Confidence,” 55th Meeting
2. R. J. Goldston, F. d’Errico, A. di Fulvio, A. Glaser, S. Philippe and M. Walker 2014), “Zero Knowledge Warhead Verification: System Requirements and Detector Technologies,” 55th Meeting
1. S. Philippe and A. Glaser (2013), “Nuclear Archaeology for Gaseous Diffusion Enrichment Plants,” 54th Meeting
Talks
Invited talks at universities, national laboratories, and institutes
30. “Supporting Transformative Justice Through Independent Scholarship,” Withstanding the Test: Social, Political, and Cultural Responses
to Nuclear Testing in Indigenous Communities, Atomic Voices Series Seminar, Harvard Managing the Atom Program, Harvard University, December 2, 2022
29. “Toxique: France’s Nuclear Testing Legacy in the Pacific,”
Pacific studies colloquium, École des hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS), May 18, 2022
27 & 28. “Walking the World Back from the Nuclear Brink: What Physicists Can Do,”
Physics Department, Cal State Long Beach, April 11, 2022
Physics Department, San Francisco State University, April 4, 2022
26. “Toxique: France’s Nuclear Testing Legacy in the Pacific,”
Environmental Humanities Colloquium, Princeton University, March 16, 2022
25. “Radiation Exposures and Compensation of Victims from French Nuclear Testing in the Pacific,” David Bradford Energy and Environmental Policy Seminar, Princeton University, March 12, 2022
24. “Reconstructing Population Exposure from Past Nuclear Weapons Tests,” Physics Department Colloquium, Columbia University, February 28, 2022
22 & 23. “The Moruroa Files: Radiation Exposures and Compensation of Victims from French Atmospheric Nuclear Tests in Polynesia,”
Global Security Technical Webinar, MIT, October 12, 2021
Center for Population-level Bioethics, Rutgers University, October 20, 2021
21. “The AUKUS Submarine Deal: Background and Non-Proliferation Considerations for Congress,” Center for Arms Control & Non-Proliferation, October 6, 2021
20. “The Emerging Technology Arms Race, Nuclear Weapons, and Global Security,” American Physical Society April Meeting, April 20, 2021
18 & 19. “Toxique: An Investigation of French Nuclear Testing in Polynesia,”
Program on Science and Global Security, Princeton University, March 16, 2021
Nuclear Knowledges Program, Sciences-Po Paris, March 17, 2021
16 & 17. “Walking the World Back from the Nuclear Brink: What Physicists Can Do,”
Physics Department, Old Dominion University, February 16, 2021
Physics Department, UC Riverside, November 5, 2020
15. “Radioactive Winds and Contaminated Rains: Reconstructing the Impact of French Nuclear Testing in the Pacific,” American University, October 28, 2020
14. “Nuclear Disarmament Verification: Principles, Scope, Governance,” Geneva Center for Security Policy, September 16, 2020.
13. “The Futures of Nuclear Europe,” EU Program, Princeton University, November 20, 2019
12. “Foreign Skeletons in Nuclear Closets: Implications for Policy and Verification,”
International Security Program, Harvard University, May 23, 2019
Program on Science and Global Security, Princeton University, September 11, 2019
11. “Teaching Arms Control Physics,” Masterclass lecture, 69th Lindau Physics Nobel Laureate Meeting, July 2, 2019
10. “Disordered Sensors and Unclonable Spaces for Nuclear Verification,”
Department of Nuclear Engineering, University of California, Berkeley, March 11, 2019
9. “Nuclear Disarmament and the Prohibition Treaty,”
Managing the Atom Seminar, Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, February 5, 2019
6, 7 & 8. “Dealing with Secrecy, Trust and Access in Nuclear Weapons Verification,”
Security Seminar, Computer Science Department, Stanford University, February 13, 2018
Nuclear Science and Security Consortium, University of California, Berkeley, February 14, 2018
Sandia National Laboratory, February 15, 2018
5. “Hidden in Plain Sight: Can Cryptography Help Crack the Next Generation of Nuclear Arms-Control Treaties?” [with A. Glaser], Department of Electrical Engineering and Information Technology, Horst Görtz Institute for IT-Security, Ruhr-University Bochum, Germany, November 17, 2017
4. “Safeguarding the Naval Nuclear Fuel Cycle,” Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Preparatory Committee, Vienna, Austria, May 3, 2017
3. “How to Keep a Secret While Dismantling an Atomic Bomb: Information Security and Verification,” [with A. Glaser], Center for Information Technology Policy, Princeton University, May 2, 2017
2. “Kilotons, Kilowatts and Kilograms: Fissile Materials Science and Policy,” Energy Seminar, School of Engineering and Applied Science, Princeton University, June 16, 2016
1. “Safeguarding the Naval Nuclear Fuel Cycle,” International Atomic Energy Agency (Safeguards Strategic Planning Division), Vienna, Austria, January 6, 2015
Presentations at workshops and symposia
27. “Modeling the Radiological Impact of Nuclear Explosions,” Princeton School on Science & Global Security, Princeton University, October 17, 2022
26. “The Governance of Nuclear Weapons, Materials, and Technologies,” Risky Global Technologies and Their Governance, University of Wyoming and Duke University, Teton Science School, Jackson, WY, October 8, 2022
25. “Rethinking Nuclear Disarmament Verification: Beyond Nuclear Warheads and Materials,” 10th Review Conference of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons , United Nations, August 23, 2022
24. “Reconstructing Population Exposure from Past Nuclear Tests,” 26th Conference on Atmospheric Transport and Dispersion Modeling, George Mason University, July 27, 2022
23. “The AUKUS Submarine Deal: Background and Non-Proliferation Considerations,” Annual Meeting of the International Panel on Fissile Materials, Princeton University, December 13, 2021
22. “The Moruroa Files: Reconstructing the Human and Environmental Legacies of French Nuclear Testing in the Pacific,” Feminism and Nuclear Studies Workshop, Harvard & Rutgers, November 8, 2021
21. “After New Start: Principles and Measures Towards Détente,” Princeton-Tsinghua Arms Control Seminar, January 28, 2021
20. “Three propositions on Transparency,” Princeton-Tsinghua Arms Control Seminar, September 17, 2020
19. “The End of Strategic Survivability? New Technologies and the Possibility to Threaten Nuclear Forces Anywhere at Any Time,” Rethinking the Nuclear Future: Perspectives from Europe and America, Hamburg University, December 13, 2019
18. “New approaches to monitoring and verification of nuclear agreements,” Understanding the New Nuclear Order, Stockholm University, November 12, 2019
17. “TPNW connections to IAEA, NPT and CTBT,” Ban Treaty Study Group Meeting, Permanent Mission of Thailand to the United Nations, New York, May 7, 2019.
16. “France Nuclear Weapon Policy,” Annual Meeting of the International Panel on Fissile Materials, Princeton University, May 6, 2019
15. “Forgetting the Unknown: Fukushima's invisible ripples in the nuclear weapons complex,” Invisible Worlds: Fukushima and the Legacy of Nuclear Forgetfulness, Harvard Kennedy School STS Program, March 28, 2019
14. “Disorder-based Approaches to Nuclear Verification,” INMM “Just Trust Me” Workshop, Sandia National Laboratory, Albuquerque, New Mexico, March 13, 2019
13. “The French Experience of Nuclear Entrenchment,” Workshop on Nuclear Embeddedness and (Ir)reversibility, Princeton University, February 2, 2019
12. “Mirage, Hypnosis and Bonapartism,” [with B. Pelopidas], Workshop on French nuclear histories and politics, Sciences-Po Paris, France, November 12, 2018
11. “Setting up the competent national authority or authorities for verification” [with T. Patton], Ban Treaty Study Group Meeting, Permanent Mission of Ireland to the United Nations, New York, October 10, 2018.
10. Brief on “Monitoring & Verification,” Workshop on the Governance of Deployment of Solar Geoengineering, Project on Climate Agreements, Harvard University, September 27–28, 2018
9. “The Naval Nuclear Fuel Cycle: Challenges and Opportunities for Governance,” Mitigating Security and Proliferation Risks from Naval Nuclear Fuel, George Washington University, August 27, 2018
8. “Sequential Declaration and Verification with Limited Access,” Workshop on Verifying Denuclearization of North Korea, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Washington DC, June 13, 2018
7. “On the Foundations of Nuclear Bonapartism,” [with B. Pelopidas], French Nuclear History: An Appraisal
and Perspectives, Sciences-Po Paris, France, May 5, 2017
6. “On-Site Inspections from a Distance: The Application of Virtual Proofs of Reality to Nuclear Safeguards And Arms Control Verification,” US Department of Energy Consortium for Verification Technology Annual Meeting, University of Michigan, October 19, 2016
5. “A Physical Zero-Knowledge Shell Game,” Workshop on Techniques for Protection of Imaging Information, Pacific Northwest and Sandia National Laboratories, Seattle, June 1, 2016
4. “First Experimental Demonstration of a Physical Zero-Knowledge Protocol,” US Department of Energy Consortium for Verification Technology Annual Meeting, University of Michigan, October 16, 2015
3. “Zero-Knowledge Warhead Verification,” Joint Workshop on Verification Technology, Princeton University and China Academy of Engineering Physics, Beijing, China, June 16, 2015
1 & 2. “The Nuclear Archaeology of Gaseous Diffusion Enrichment Plants,” Princeton University Research Symposium, 20 October 2013, and
Finalist for Annual Research Day, Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Princeton University, September 13, 2013
Fellowships, Honors & Awards (selected)
2023 Best Science Graphics of 2023, Scientific American
2023 Nominee for the Pritzker Emerging Environmental Genius Award (one of 18), UCLA
2022 Sigma Award for best data journalism in the world (12 winners out of 1500 entries from 102 countries)
2021 Finalist for the Albert Londres Prize (France’s equivalent to the Pulitzer Prize)
2021 DIG Award for best investigative journalism (leading international competition based in Italy)
2021 Runner-up for Arms Control Person of the Year, Arms Control Association (2nd out of 8 nominees)
2019 Master Class speaker at the 69th Lindau Physics Nobel Laureates Meeting, Germany (Nominated by Martin Hellman, 2015 ACM Turing Award)
2018 Stanton Nuclear Security Fellowship, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University
2018 Finalist for Junior Fellowship, Society of Fellows, Harvard University
2017 Harold W. Dodds Honorific Fellowship for “outstanding performance and professional promise” awarded to “exceptional students across all divisions,” The Graduate School, Princeton University