NUCLEAR WEAPONS

See Also: CLOTHES DESIGNERS Katharine Hamnett; ILLUSTRATION & GRAPHIC DESIGN Peace Symbol; RESTAURANTS, CLOSED The Gay Hussar

Chain Reaction

Following the First World War, political circumstances in Hungary prompted Szil rd to move to Berlin, where he studied engineering. He soon tired of the subject and started to attend a physics seminar that Albert Einstein participated in. Both men were lateral thinkers who connected things from diverse sources. They soon developed a rapport.

In 1932 the neutron was discovered. It changed the nature of particle physics. It came to be realised that it and the protons were bound together by a powerful force. It was appreciated that if an atom's nucleus was hit with enough energy to break the atom's bonds there would then be an immense release of energy. Most physicists regarded such a release as being technically beyond mankind s abilities. Einstein was one of them. He regarded it as being like trying to shoot birds in the dark in a country that did not have many birds; this analogy referred to the fact that an atom's nucleus was miniscule relative to the atom's overall size. The Nazis achievement of power in Germany prompted Szil rd to become profoundly concerned about what the consequences might be if a technology for controlling such atomic energy was developed.

In September 1933, while staying in The Imperial Hotel, Szil rd read The Times newspaper's account of a speech that the physicist Lord Rutherford had made to the British Association for the Advancement of Science. The peer did not believe that the atom could be split and that if it could then it would take so much energy that it would not be worth the effort. He dismissed it as moonshine . Szil rd was sure that the peer was wrong even if he could not yet articulate why.

While passing a set of traffic lights on Southampton Row, he realised that in order to release nuclear energy you needed an element that when its nucleus was hit with one neutron would release two, which in turn would each lead to the release of further two thereby setting in train a continuously doubling chain reaction. However, he did not know which element to use or how a nuclear reactor could be constructed.

A few weeks later Szil rd took out a series of a patent. This had a level of risk since patents were in public domain. He appreciated that they needed to be classified as military patents and thus become secret.

In June 1934 Rutherford and Szil rd met in Cambridge at the Cavendish Laboratory. The encounter did not go well.

Szil rd realised that he needed a source of radiation. He needed to find out whether atoms could release neutrons, which he believed was a first step to seeing whether atoms could be split. He appreciated that hospitals used radioactive material. He contacted St Bartholomew's Hospital. There, he placed an ounce of radium on a sheet of beryllium, which he wrapped over the material and then enclosed the beryllium in a sheet of silver. There was a clicking sound. These were generated by neutrons escaping from their atoms. It meant that his basic concept was correct.

In September 1935 Szil rd was invited to visit the Woolwich Arsenal to discuss with Army researchers the possibility of creating a new, mega-bomb. They were unresponsive to his idea. The physicist visited Frederick Lindemann in Oxford. The academic appreciated Szil rd's thinking and agreed to explain it to the Admiralty. As a result, the patents were reclassified as military secrets.

Szil rd travelled to the United States. By then he had come to appreciate why most physicists believed that the atom could not be split. From New York City he wrote to the Admiralty to communicate his shift in thinking and to indicate that his patents probably did not need to be kept secret. Kristallnacht (1938) induced a feeling in him that he had wasted his time.

In Berlin Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann were not physicists. They were physical chemists. They were bombarding the heaviest existing elements with neutrons to see what radioactive elements were produced. They observed uranium produced sixteen new substances. They did not realise that they had split the atom, which meant that a nuclear chain reaction was possible. Their former colleague, Lise Meittner did. Fission was a reality. Nuclear weapons could be developed

In September 1939 Germany invaded Poland. In Berlin Szil rd's interests had included economics. As a result, through a mutual friend was connected to Alexander Sachs, a high-powered Wall Street figure, who was acting an adviser to President Roosevelt. Szil rd then met with Einstein and explained the work that he and Enrico Fermi had been conducting on fission. The Nobel Prize winner agreed to sign a letter that Szil rd had drafted that explained the possibility of nuclear weapons. Sachs met with the President in the Oval Office. Neither man grasped the document's import. However, as the economist was leaving the Oval Office, Roosevelt invited him to join him for breakfast the following day. Sachs appreciated that he needed a non-scientific means of persuading Roosevelt. He recounted the story of Robert Fulton, an American engineer who had offered to construct a fleet of steam ships so that the French could invade Britain without being subject to the vagaries of the wind. The emperor had been unable to encompass the idea of ships that were not powered by the wind. Roosevelt appreciated that there was a need to have a technological lead over the Nazis. Einstein's letter clinched the matter. The Uranium Committee was set up. Its modest budget of a few thousand dollars enabled Fermi and Szil rd to carry on relevant work. It was only following Pearl Harbour that the American government began to ramp up the project.

Location: (32) Whitehall, SW1A 2DY (blue, brown)

The Imperial Hotel, 61-66 Russell Square, WC1B 5BB (purple, orange)

St Bartholomew's Hospital, West Smithfield, EC1A 7BE (purple, turquoise)

Southampton Row, WC1B 4AR (purple, pink)

Woolwich Arsenal, Woolwich New Road, SE18 6EU

See Also: MAUD & TUBE ALLOYS; SCIENCE FICTION H.G. Wells, The World Set Free; TRAFFIC CONTROL Traffic Lights

Lovely Cuppa

In 2007 the National Archives released a top secret draft memorandum that the Labour government had drawn up in 1967. This dealt with the commodities that the United Kingdom would have to give priority to importing in the wake of a nuclear conflict that was expected to have annihilated at least a third of the population. One of the goods that was to be given preferential treatment was tea.

See Also: ROYALTY The Constitution, Emergency Powers; SKYSCRAPERS Security Service Developments; TEA Tony Benn

Joseph Rotblat

Professor Joseph Rotblat was involved in the development of the atomic bomb at Los Alamos. After the war he worked in medical physics at St Bartholomew's Hospital. In 1956 he was one of the founders of the Pugwash Conferences On Science & World Affairs. This organisation campaigned against atomic weapons. During the 1960s it was one of the most effective channels between the Americans and The Soviets. It played a role in the creation of the Partial Test Ban Treaty of 1963 and the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty of 1972. In 1995 the professor was awarded the Nobel peace prize.

Location: St Bartholomew's Hospital, West Smithfield, EC1A 7BE (purple, turquoise)

See Also: FOREIGN RELATIONS; HOSPITALS St Bartholomew's Hospital

Website: https://pugwash.org

David Backhouse 2024