ATOMS
THE world can be left in little doubt about the lead which Britain has established in the peaceful use of atomic energy after the ceremonial opening of the Calder Hall nuclear power station by Her Majesty The Queen on Wednesday Nowhere else has such progress been made, nor is Britain's lead even challenged. Earlier in the week Sir John Cockcroft, speaking in London, said he thought it unlikely that there would be as much nuclear power by 1965 in all Western Europe as in this country. In America nuclear power would not play as large a part in the economy as here for between ten and fifteen years. That Britain has raced ahead out of sheer necessity to avert a catastrophic shortage of fuel should in no way distract attention from the miracles which the Atomic Energy Authority has performed. Ten years ago there was nothing, except a small team of brilliant scientists. Today there are the immense fuel factories, and three further power stations under construction of the Calder Hall pattern. Ten years hence we may generate enough power from the atom to save over ten million tons of coal a year, more than a quarter of the amount burned in coal-fired stations last year. The task of achieving this astonishing target now rests on British industry, and it is to be hoped that the governments of the next decade will realise their responsibility to the corn' panics which are trying to get on with the job. Political inter- ference, such as further nationalisation, or political feebleness, such as inability to lighten the tax load, might slow down the whole programme. That this may be the biggest danger of all is borne out by Sir John's statement that 'The power of creative technology is today so great that, given a clear goal and no political impediment [our italics], progress is certain to be more rapid than can be foreseen.'
Previous page
