Director, Programmes and Estate, National Measurement Office

After degrees in Applied Science and Radiation and Environmental Protection from Kingston Polytechnic and the University of Surrey, respectively, Robert Gunn joined the Ministry of Defence to work in Operational Health Physics. He primarily worked at the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment but also had attachments to the Institute of Naval Medicine and Rosyth Dockyard.

Following the Chernobyl accident he took up a role with the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food planning the response to nuclear emergencies and regulating discharges from licensed nuclear sites. In 1993 he joined DTI with responsibility for various nuclear programmes including the Fast Reactor, Fusion and the decommissioning of various UKAEA sites, later moving in to a policy role concerned with radioactive waste, nuclear decommissioning and plutonium.

In 2001, Robert left the nuclear area to take responsibility for the National Measurement System Programmes, initially in DTI and now at the National Measurement Office, an Executive Agency of the successor Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. He retains this responsibility to the present, also now having responsibility for the related assets on the Teddington estate.