Abstract
In April 1950 a hundred scientists in Britain had signed a petition to the government urging it not to follow the American example and develop a hydrogen bomb. There was no such danger then; Britain’s first atomic test, of a rather primitive fission device, was still over two years distant. But even before the Cabinet’s secret H-bomb decision of June 1954 launched a serious research programme, events were already in train that gravely threatened its completion.
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Notes and References
R. A. Divine, Blowing in the Wind, p. 9.
Ibid., pp. 9–13; B. C. Hacker, Elements of Controversy, pp. 139–48; L. Arnold, A Very Special Relationship, pp. 77–80.
R. A. Divine, op. cit., p. 19.
Ibid., p. 4.
Ibid., p. 20.
T. J. Botti, The Long Wait, ch. 15.
R. G. Hewlett and J. M. Holl, Atoms for Peace and Warp. 275.
R. A. Divine, op. cit., pp. 29–31.
J. Baylis, Anglo-American Defence Relations 1939–1984, pp. 85–6.
R. G. Hewlett and J. M. Holl, op. cit., pp. 264–6, 329–30; B. C. Hacker, Elements of Controversy, pp. 181–2.
R. G. Hewlett and J. M. Holl, op. cit., pp. 286–97; R. A. Divine, op. cit., pp. 36–57.
R. A. Divine, op. cit., p. 41.
Cmd 9391, ‘Statement on Defence 1955’, see A. J. R. Groom, British Thinking about Nuclear Weapons, pp. 99–108.
HC Deb., vol. 537, 1 Mar. 1955.
He became Prime Minister on 6 Apr. 1955 and called a general election in May. Harold Macmillan succeeded him in July 1957.
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, vol. X, nos 8 and 9 (October and November 1954); see L. Arnold, op. cit., p. 79.
R. G. Hewlett and J. M. Holl, op. cit., pp. 294–5.
J. Rotblat, Scientists in the Quest for Peace, pp. 1, 2, 137–40.
HC Deb., 29 Mar. 1955; L. Arnold, op. cit., pp. 79, 83–4.
Set up by the UN General Assembly in November 1956 to ‘receive, collate and publish information on radiation levels and the effects of radiation on man and his environment’. UNSCEAR is still in operation.
HC Deb., vol. 546, 30 Nov. 1955.
L. Arnold, op. cit., p. 81.
Ibid., p. 82.
Ibid., p. 83.
We have found no record of a visit by the Archbishop.
L. Arnold, op. cit., p. 83.
Ibid., pp. 83–4.
Ibid., p. 85; R. A. Divine, op. cit., p. 120.
L. Arnold, op. cit., pp. 84–6.
Ibid., pp. 83–4.
HC Deb., 16 July 1956.
R. G. Hewlett and J. M. Holl, op. cit., pp. 345 and 368–9.
Ibid., pp. 346–8.
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© 2001 The Ministry of Defence
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Arnold, L., Pyne, K. (2001). Racing Against Time. In: Britain and the H-Bomb. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230599772_9
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