Nuclear testing
So the North Koreans join the illustrious club of nuclear powers. The UK's first nuclear test was on October 3rd 1952, and its first hydrogen bomb test on May 15th 1957.The Times reported it as follows:
"BRITISH ATOMIC WEAPON EXPLODED - SUCCESS OF MONTE BELLO TEST: Britain's first atomic weapon was exploded in the Monte Bello Islands to-day. The Admiralty announced that the test had been a success. An observer reported that the cloud from the blast had a ragged shape at the base and that one minute after the detonation it reached 6,000ft. Within three minutes the cloud was a mile wide at its centre and the shape at the top was like a ragged letter "Z". The Minister of Supply, Mr Duncan Sandys, who was informed by telephone, issued a statement saying that the atomic weapon having been successfully exploded the immediate task of the expedition at Monte Bellow was to assemble all of the technical recordings and other data with a view to analysing the results of the the test".
Reuters reported: "The cloud rose in a ragged shape, wide at the base, and unlike the familiar mushroom smoke of American atomic explosions".
posted by Matthew @ 10/09/2006 02:46:00 PM
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