The British Mission

Book Id: WPLBN0000703778
Format Type: PDF eBook:
File Size: 0.4 MB
Reproduction Date: 2006

Title:	The British Mission
Author:
Volume:
Language:	English
Subject:	Government publications, Energy, Energy and research series
Collections:	Government Library Collection, Department of Energy Collection
Historic Publication Date:
Publisher:	Government Printing Office


Citation APA MLA Chicago The British Mission. (n.d.). The British Mission. Retrieved from https://self.gutenberg.org/

Excerpt
Excerpt: News of the discovery in early 1939 of neutron-induced fission in uranium immediately prompted ideas in the United Kingdom and elsewhere not only of a controlled fission chain reaction but also of an uncontrolled, explosive chain reaction. Although official British circles viewed with a high degree of skepticism the possible significance of uranium fission for military application, some research was initiated at British universities on the theoretical aspects of achieving an explosive reaction. Progress was slow, the initial results were discouraging, and, following the outbreak of World War II, the effort was reduced and resources were moved to more pressing and more promising defense projects. The turning point came in March 1940 with the inspired memorandum by O. R. Frisch and R. E. Peierls, then both of Birmingham University, in which they predicted that a reasonably small mass of pure uranium-235 would support a fast chain reaction and outlined a method by which uranium-235 might be assembled in a weapon.