‘Winston is Back’ — and Cherwell

Abstract

When Mr Attlee’s Labour Government gave way to Mr Churchill’s Conservative Government in October 1951, the pioneering or heroic period of the atomic energy project — the period to which the participants would always look back nostalgically — was almost over. Despite shortcomings in the machinery of government, and shortages, crises and difficulties of every kind, the programme was coming along almost exactly to time. The uranium metal plant was working smoothly. The Windscale piles were working too and were so simple to operate that it was difficult to remember 1946 fears about piles. The chemical separation plant at Windscale, the first of its kind in the world, was about to begin its near-faultless operation. The first billet of plutonium was to be produced within five months. The gaseous diffusion plant to enrich uranium was under construction. Penney’s team had almost finished working out the bomb design and bomb mechanics. The first military stage of the project was almost complete and the Government had simply to wait for the programme to reach its terrifying pyrotechnic culmination. Much thought had already been given to the possibilities of nuclear power.