Many believe that it was the USA that developed the atomic bomb. However, the UK were not only the first to prove an atomic bomb would work, we were also the first country in the world to commit to taking steps to build one.
What ultimately stopped us was the constant drain of resources in our war effort. It was only after Pearl Harbour was bombed that the US finally took real interest in the work that the UK had done, and we relented to becoming a junior partner in the Manhattan Project, sending 20 British scientists to Los Alomos.
After WWII ended, the US McMahon Act closed us out of further nuclear collaboration. It was then that Clement Attlee gave the go ahead for plutonium production and a nuclear weapon programme of our own.
Amanda will be talking us through that fascinating story!