Britains's Nuclear Weapon Program UK Video archive Great Britain became the third nuclear power when it successfully detonated an atomic device in October 1952 during Operation Hurricane. Great Britain is one of the five nuclear-weapon states (NWS) recognized by the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which was ratified by the UK in 1968. Between 1952 and 2006, Britain had built approximately 1,200 nuclear weapons. Britain currently stockpiles 225 nuclear weapons; the peak number of warheads stockpiled was 410 in 1969. Still recovering from World War II, Britain developed a nuclear arsenal independent of foreign aid and during a time of national shortages. The primary motivation for the development of nuclear weapons was to retain an effective and independent deterrent against Soviet aggression which would contribute to the strength of Western defense. Being the only European member of NATO with nuclear weapons, Britain gained political leverage in Anglo-American relations which it had lost following the war. William Penny - OM, KBE, FRS, FRSE Though initially independent of the United States, Britain would sacrifice her nuclear arsenal in the late 1950s for increased cooperation with the United States in nuclear weapons research, development, and deployment. The 1958 US-UK Mutual Defence Agreement effectively put an end to Britain's independent nuclear deterrent in favor of anglicized versions of existing American weapons, such as the Mk-28. With the reopening of US-UK nuclear cooperation, Britain had access to nuclear weapons much more quickly and cheaply than if she had she retained her independent arsenal. During the early part of the Second World War, Britain with participation from Canada, had a project to develop nuclear weapons that preceded the Manhattan Project. At the University of Birmingham, Rudolf Peierls and Otto Robert Frisch co-wrote a memorandum explaining that a small mass of pure uranium-235 could be used to produce a chain reaction in a bomb with the power of thousands of tons of TNT. This led to the formation of the MAUD Committee, which called for an all-out effort to develop nuclear weapons. The project was given the intentionally misleading code name of 'Tube Alloys'. Tube Alloys was ultimately subsumed into the Manhattan Project by the Quebec Agreement with the United States. End of American cooperation Nuclear cooperation between Great Britain and United States ceased after World War II due to the passing of the McMahon Act of 1946, which restricted the sharing of nuclear technologies between nations. Great Britain, which had made significant contributions to America's nuclear weapons program during the war, was galvanized and saw the act as betrayal on the part of the United States. Despite ultimately having little to show for her contributions to the Manhattan Project, Britain's nuclear weapons program helped secure and maintain an alliance with the United States which had faltered in the early, uncertain years of the Cold War. "We have made a successful start. When the [nuclear] tests are completed, as they soon will be, we shall be in the same position as the United States or Soviet Russia. We shall have made and tested the massive weapons. It will be possible then to discuss on equal terms. " - Harold Macmillan, Prime Minister 1957 Resumption of independent UK research Britain's newly elected Labour Prime Minister Clement Attlee initiated the independent development of nuclear weapons shortly after the war. By January 1947, the decision to pursue nuclear arms was made official, though much progress had already been made up to that time. Dr. William George Penney, who assisted the United States in the development of nuclear weapons during the Manhattan Project, was made responsible for the early British atomic weapons research program. In November 1946 Penney initiated plans for the development of an Atomic Weapons Section; which would initially be code named HER (High Explosives Research). In May 1947 Penney was officially made head of the HER project, which was based at the Woolwich Arsenal. With the recruitment of scientists and engineers the project would grow greatly; this created several logistical problems as the program was spread across a number of test facilities throughout the UK. In April 1950 a central base for atomic weapons research was established at an abandoned airfield, called Aldermaston, in Berkshire. Officially named the AWRE (Atomic Weapons Research Establishment), this would become the permanent home of Britain's nuclear weapons program. Hurricane (03/10/1952) In 1952, Britain successfully detonated an atomic device off the western coast of Australia at the Monte Bello Islands. Code named Operation Hurricane, a plutonium implosion device was detonated on a ship with a yield of 25 kilotons. Upon his return to England after the successful test, Dr. Penney received a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II.        - Hurricane Following the success at Monte Bello, Britain became committed to developing an effective and reliable nuclear arsenal. Operation Totem, the second series of nuclear tests, was conducted in 1953 in Australia. Totem was the first weapons development test series conducted by Britain, aimed at gaining further knowledge in the design of fission weapons. In 1957, Britain would explode a hydrogen bomb, securing her place as one of the top world powers. The test was conducted under Operation Grapple, which was the largest military operation conducted by Britain since World War II. As with Britain's first fission weapons, thermonuclear weapons were developed without any U.S. assistance. British Nuclear Testing in Australia No suitable nuclear test site could be established in Britain due to the islands' relatively small land area and dense population. Initially it was hoped that the United States would allow Britain the use of the Nevada Test Site or Pacific Proving Grounds, but this was rejected due to the escalating Cold War and ban on the sharing of nuclear technologies. Britain looked elsewhere to test her nuclear weapons, with the most interest being in Australia. Several locations in Australia were considered, including Groote Eylandt in the Gulf of Carpentaria and an island in the Bass Strait off Tasmania. Kite R3 (11/10/1956) In 1950 British Labor Prime Minister Clement Atlee secretly asked Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies for the use of Australian soil for the testing of British nuclear weapons. Menzies, who wanted an Australia nuclear weapons program, agreed under the terms that Britain would share nuclear technologies with Australia. However, political conditions at the time prevented the sharing of technologies, especially a reactor, with Australia on the grounds that it would upset UK-US relations. The Monte Bello Islands were chosen as the new test site and a preliminary assessment of the suitability of the proposed site was conducted in October-November 1950. British authorities deemed the site suitable for a nuclear test and on March 26, 1951 a formal request was made by Atlee for the its use. The reply was delayed until after the 1951 elections, which were won by the Menzies government. With the approval of the Australian government, Britain's first nuclear trial, code named Operation Hurricane, was conducted in Western Australia. Public announcement of the nuclear test was made on February 19, 1952 and Hurricane was detonated later that year on October 3, 1952. Following Hurricane the British government, now lead by new Prime Minister Winston Churchill, inquired about the use of a test site in southern Australia for further nuclear testing. In December 1952, Churchill asked Menzies about the use of Emu Field, 744 miles northwest of Adelaide in the Great Victoria Desert, for two experimental nuclear tests, codenamed Operation Totem. Menzies again gave permission for the tests and in the fall of 1953 two nuclear devices were detonated at Emu Field, with yields of 10 and 8 kilotons respectively. By now Britain was fully committed to developing a nuclear deterrent and asked the Australian government for the establishment of a permanent nuclear test site in South Australia. Three days after Operation Totem the Australian government was advised about the possibility of establishing a permanent nuclear test site and in August 1954 the Australian Cabinet agreed to the establishment of the Maralinga Test Range. Emu Fields was deemed to be too remote for extensive nuclear trials so Maralinga, north of the transcontinental railway line in South Australia, was chosen. Two years would pass before the next series of British nuclear tests in Australia. Operation Totem - 1953 Totem was a pair of British atmospheric nuclear tests that took place at Emu Field in South Australia in October 1953. They followed the first British atomic Hurricane bomb a year earlier. The purpose of the trial was to determine the limit of the amount of plutonium-240 that could be used. In addition to the two main tests, there was a series of five subcritical tests called 'Kittens'. These did not produce nuclear explosions, but used conventional explosives, polonium-210, beryllium, and natural uranium to investigate the performance of the neutron initiators. Totem T1 - The first Totem test was preceded by three KItten tests. The device was detonated from a tower at 21:30 UTC 14/10/1953 with a yield of 10 kilotons, precisely predicted by Penney. The cloud rose to 4,600 metres. After the test, a black mist rolled across the landscape at the Wallatina and Welbourn Hill 175km from the test site, leading to unacceptably high levels of radioactive contamination. Totem T2 - Two more Kitten tests were carried before the test. It exploded at 21:30 UTC 26/10/1953 with a yield of 8 kilotons, less than estimated. The cloud rose higher than that of Totem 1 reaching 8,500 metres. High winds dispersed the cloud so that it had dissipated to the point where it could not be tracked. Operation Mosaic - 1956 A series of two British nuclear tests conducted in the Montebello Islands in Western Australia. The purpose of the tests was to explore increasing the yield of British nuclear weapons through boosting with lithium-6 and deuterium, and the use of a natural uranium tamper. The Totem tests had been carried out at Emu Field in South Australia, but were considered unsuitable for Mosaic. It was decided that the best option was the Montebello Islands where Operation Hurricane had been conducted in 1952. Mosaic G1 -Valuable data was obtained. The implosion system had performed flawlessly, but the boosting effect of the small quantity of lithium deuteride had been negligible. The fallout cloud initially moved out to sea as predicted, but then reversed direction and drifted across northern Australia. Mosaic G2 - The results of G1 meant that a natural uranium tamper could be used in G2 without exceeding the agreed 80 Kt limit. G2 was detonated from a tower on Alpha Island producing a yield of 60 Kt. The cloud rose to 14,000 metres considerably higher than the predicted 11,000 metres. A Land Rover was put ashore and a party wearing protective clothing went to within 120 metres of ground zero to collect samples and recover the blast measurement equipment. Operation Buffalo - 1956 The purpose of this series was to test smaller warheads for use as primaries for the British hydrogen bomb program. Aldermaston had developed a new warhead called Red Beard that was half the size of Blue Danube and weighed one-fifth as much, mainly through innovation in the pit design, principally the use of an "air lens". Buffalo consisted of four tests. One Tree (Round 1) and Breakaway (Round 2) were detonated on towers, Marcoo (Round 3) at ground level, and Kite (Round 4) was released by a Royal Air Force Vickers Valiant bomber from a height of 11,000 metres. This was the first drop of a British nuclear weapon from an aircraft. - Buffalo Round 1 indoctrinee observers with commentary The Grapple Trials Operation Grapple was Britain's program to test a hydrogen bomb. The operation was the largest British combined military operation since World War II and was conducted without any American aid. The development of experimental and unproven thermonuclear devices at Aldermaston necessitated their testing. Christmas Island was chosen as the main site for the Grapple trials between 1957 and 1958. Six nuclear detonations took place off the coast of Christmas Island and three over Malden Island. While thermonuclear concepts were already being tested in 1956 during Operation Mosaic in Australia, Grapple's main objective was to test a 'one ton/one megaton' bomb. These new weapons would be efficient, hardened, multi-staged thermonuclear weapons capable of being deployed both on strategic nuclear bombers and on strategic nuclear missiles. Grapple - 1957 Short Granite (15/05/1957) The Atomic Weapons Research Establishment at Aldermaston produced three designs: Orange Herald, a large boosted fission weapon; Green Bamboo, an interim thermonuclear design; and Green Granite, a true thermonuclear weapon. The first series consisted of three tests in May and June 1957. In the first test, Grapple 1, a version of Green Granite known as Short Granite was dropped from a Vickers Valiant bomber flown by Wing Commander Kenneth Hubbard. The bomb's yield was estimated at 300Kt, far below its designed capability. Despite this, the test was hailed as a successful thermonuclear explosion, and the government did not confirm or deny reports that the UK had become the third thermonuclear power. The second test Grapple 2, was of Orange Herald; its 800 kilotonne yield made it technically a megaton-range weapon, and the largest ever achieved by a single stage nuclear device. Grapple 3 tested Purple Granite, a version of Short Granite with some fixes; its yield was only 200 kilotonnes. A second test series would be required with improved designs. Some of these improvements were developed and tested during Operation Antler. Operation Antler - 1957 Operation Antler in 1957 tested new, lightweight nuclear weapons. Three tests were conducted in this series: Tadje (3.9 Kt), Biak (23.7 Kt) and Taranaki (26.6 Kt). The first two were conducted from towers, while the last was suspended from balloons. Tadje used cobalt pellets as a tracer for determining yield, resulting in rumours that Britain was developing a cobalt bomb. Grapple X - 1957 This second test series consisted of a single test, Grapple X, in November 1957. This time the yield was 1.8 megatonnes which greatly exceeded expectations. It was a true hydrogen bomb, but most of its yield came from nuclear fission rather than nuclear fusion. Grapple Y - 1958 In a third series with a single test, Grapple Y, in April 1958, another design was trialled. With an explosive yield of about 3 megatonnes of TNT, it remains the largest British nuclear weapon ever tested. The design of Grapple Y was notably successful because much of its yield came from its thermonuclear fusion reaction instead of fission of a heavy uranium-238 tamper—the dense material surrounding the core that kept the reacting mass together to increase its efficiency. Its yield had been closely predicted, indicating that its designers understood the process. Grapple Z - 1958 A final series of four tests in August and September 1958, known as Grapple Z, tested techniques for boosting and making bombs immune to predetonation caused by nearby nuclear explosions. Two of these tests were detonations from balloons. A moratorium on testing came into effect in October 1958, and Britain never resumed atmospheric nuclear testing. The four Grapple Z tests were - Pennant 3 (24 Kt), Flagpole 1 (1 Mt), Halliard 1 (800 Kt) and Burgee 2 (25 kT). - Sequence showing the last three Grapple Z tests with commentary Resumption of US-UK nuclear co-operation and further testing The McMahon Act was amended in 1958, replaced by the US–UK Mutual Defence Agreement after the UK had independently developed its own nuclear weapons, and the UK/US 'special relationship' was re-established. One of the results of that treaty was that Britain was permitted to use United States' Nevada Test Site for testing their designs, in exchange for the data from the experiments. In effect the Nevada Test Site became Britain's test ground. The first test was shot Pampas during Operation Nougat in 1962, Britain's first underground test. A total of 28 joint tests were conducted at the NTS, including four zero-yield plutonium dispersal safety experiments conducted at the Tonopah Test Range during Operation Roller Coaster in 1963. Safety tests related to WE177 thermonuclear gravity bomb were conducted at Maralinga in March and April 1963. The Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty went into effect on the 10th October 1963 which banned atmospheric nuclear testing, and the Maralinga range was closed for good in 1967. Nuclear Arsenal The United Kingdom has a stockpile of approximately 225 operational nuclear warheads. These are deployed on a fleet of four nuclear-powered Vanguard Class ballistic missile submarines, armed with Trident SSBNs. About 58 Trident II (D-5) are leased from the United States Navy. A single British SSBN will be on patrol at any given time; this submarine carries up to 48 warheads on 16 D-5 missiles. The second and third SSBNs can be deployed on short notice with similar loadings. Since the end of the Cold War, the SSBN on patrol is maintained at a level of reduced readiness with a 'notice to fire' measured in days, the missiles are de-targeted. - Database of the United Kingdoms Nuclear Testing - 1952 1991 UK Tests Video Name Yield Date |UTC| Type Warhead Location LAT/LONG Hurricane 25 Kt 00:59 03/10/1952 Seasurface @-3m - Monte Bello Isl. -20.40000 115.57000 Totem T1 9.1 Kt 21:30 14/10/1953 Tower @31m Blue Danube S.Australia - Emu Field -28.68000 132.34000 - Totem T2 18 Kt 21:30 26/10/1953 Tower @31m Blue Danube S.Australia - Emu Field -28.70000 132.35000 - Mosaic G1 15 Kt 03:50 16/05/1956 Tower @31m - Monte Bello Isl. -20.23000 115.55000 Mosaic G2 98 Kt 02:14 19/06/1956 Tower @31m - Monte Bello Isl. -20.40000 115.53000 Buffalo R1/One Tree 15 Kt 07:30 27/09/1956 Tower @31m Red Beard S.Australia - Maralinga -29.84000 131.66000 Buffalo R2/Marcoo 1.5 Kt 07:00 04/10/1956 Surface @2m Blue Danube S.Australia - Maralinga 29.86000 131.63000 Buffalo R3/Kite 3 Kt 05:57 11/10/1956 Airdrop @150m Blue Danube S.Australia - Maralinga -29.86000 131.66000 Buffalo R4/Breakaway 10 Kt 14:35 22/10/1956 Tower @31m Redbeard S.Australia - Maralinga -29.87000 131.61000 Short Granite - Grapple1 300 Kt 19:37 15/05/1957 Airdrop @2400m - Malden Isl. -4.05000 -154.90000 Orange Herald - Grapple2 720 Kt 19:41 31/05/1957 Airdrop @2300m - Malden Isl. -4.05000 -154.90000 Purple Granite - Grapple3 200 Kt 19:40 19/06/1957 Airdrop @2300m - Malden Isl. -4.05000 -154.90000 - Antler R1/Tadje 0.93 Kt 05:05 14/09/1957 Tower @31m - Maralinga -29.86000 131.650000 - Antler R2/Biak 6 Kt 00:30 25/09/1957 Tower @31m - Maralinga -29.87000 131.62000 Antler R3/Taranaki 26.6 Kt 06:45 09/10/1957 Balloon @300m - Maralinga -29.87000 131.60000 Grapple X 1.8 Mt 17:47 08/11/1957 Airdrop @2250m - Christmas Isl. 1.67000 -157.25000 Grapple Y 3 Mt 18:00 28/04/1958 Airdrop @2350m - Christmas Isl. 1.67000 -157.25000 Pennant - Grapple Z 24 Kt 18:00 22/08/1958 Baloon @450m - Christmas Isl. 1.67000 -157.25000 Pennant - Grapple Z 24 Kt 18:00 22/08/1958 Baloon @450m - Christmas Isl. 1.67000 -157.25000 Flagpole - Grapple Z 1 Mt 17:24 02/09/1958 Airdrop @2850m - Christmas Isl. 1.67000 -157.25000 Halliard 1 - Grapple Z 800 Kt 17:49 11/09/1958 Airdrop @2650m - Christmas Isl. 1.67000 -157.25000 Burgee2 - Grapple Z 25 Kt 18:00 23/09/1958 Baloon @450m - Christmas Isl. 1.67000 -157.25000 - Joint US-UK Testing - 1962/1991