Operation Totem status, the British government restarted its own development effort, which was given the cover name "High Explosive Research". The first British atomic bomb was tested in Operation Hurricane at the Montebello Islands in Western Australia on 3 October 1952. The main purpose of the trial was to determine the acceptable limit on the amount of plutonium-240 which could be present in a bomb. The plutonium used in the original Hurricane device was produced in the nuclear reactor at Windscale, but the Windscale Piles did not have anything like the capacity to provide sufficient material for the British government's planned weapons
What If (story) What If (story) "What If—" is a fantasy short story by Isaac Asimov that was first published in the Summer 1952 issue of "Fantastic" and reprinted in the 1969 collection "Nightfall and Other Stories". The story was inspired by the author's wife, who challenged him to produce a story based on a train trip they were taking to New York. A married couple is traveling on a train from Boston to New York City. They meet a mysterious silent man known only as Mister If, who shows them a small portable television-like device about in size. (Mr. If's first name