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Strath Committee
The Strath Committee, chaired by Sir William Strath, was set up by the British Ministry of Defence to consider the short- and long-term effects of a hydrogen bomb attack on the United Kingdom. The committee began its work in November 1954, and submitted a preliminary report to Defence Minister Harold Macmillan a month later. The final report was issued in March 1955; while it was officially known as "The Defence Implications of Fall-Out from a Hydrogen Bomb: Report by a Group of Officials", the report is normally cited as the Strath Report instead. Consisting of thirty-two pages plus appendices, the report established that, if war broke out, the Soviet Union would seek to "eliminate ritainfrom the contest" due to the country possessing a nuclear arsenal as well as hosting American nuclear weapons. The report sought to estimate the degree of damage and casualties that would be suffered from a "limited" attack of ten hydrogen bombs, each with a 10 megaton payload, dropped on British ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
William Strath
Sir William Strath, Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath, KCB (16 November 1906 – 8 May 1975) was a Scottish civil servant and industrialist. Educated at Girvan Academy, Girvan High School and the University of Glasgow, he entered the civil service in 1929 as an official in the Inland Revenue; he moved to the Air Ministry in 1938 and then the Ministry of Aircraft Production in 1940. His post-war career included spells at the Ministry of Supply (UK), Ministry of Supply and HM Treasury. In 1954, as head of the Cabinet Office's central war plans secretariat, he was charged with chairing a committee on the impact of a hydrogen bomb attack on Britain; the "Strath Committee" would find that even a limited attack of ten bombs would have dire consequences for the country. He sat on the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, UK Atomic Energy Authority from 1955 to 1959 and then served as Permanent secretary, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Supply in 1959 and the Ministry of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet Union, it dissolved in 1991. During its existence, it was the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country by area, extending across Time in Russia, eleven time zones and sharing Geography of the Soviet Union#Borders and neighbors, borders with twelve countries, and the List of countries and dependencies by population, third-most populous country. An overall successor to the Russian Empire, it was nominally organized as a federal union of Republics of the Soviet Union, national republics, the largest and most populous of which was the Russian SFSR. In practice, Government of the Soviet Union, its government and Economy of the Soviet Union, economy were Soviet-type economic planning, highly centralized. As a one-party state go ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1955 In The United Kingdom
Events from the year 1955 in the United Kingdom. The year is marked by changes of leadership for both principal political parties. Incumbents * Monarch of the United Kingdom, Monarch – Elizabeth II * Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Prime Minister – Winston Churchill (Conservative Party (UK), Conservative) (until 6 April), Anthony Eden (Conservative Party (UK), Conservative) (starting 6 April) Events * 1 January – The UK's first atomic bomber unit, No. 138 Squadron RAF, is formed, flying Vickers Valiants from RAF Gaydon in Warwickshire. * 7 January – UK release of the Halas and Batchelor film animation of George Orwell's ''Animal Farm (1954 film), Animal Farm'' (completed April 1954), the first full-length British-made animated feature on general theatrical release, covertly funded by the CIA. * 11 January – 1955 RAF Shackleton aircraft disappearance: Two Royal Air Force Avro Shackleton maritime patrol aircraft flying from RAF St Eval in Cornwall disappear withou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Four-minute Warning
The four-minute warning was a public alert system conceived by the British Government during the Cold War and operated between 1953 and 1992. The name derived from the approximate length of time from the point at which a Soviet nuclear missile attack against the United Kingdom could be confirmed and the impact of those missiles on their targets. The warning system Basic details The warning would be initiated by the detection of inbound missiles and aircraft targeted at the United Kingdom. Early in the Cold War, Jodrell Bank was used to detect and track incoming missiles, while continuing to be used for astronomical research. Throughout the Cold War, there was a conflict between the Royal Air Force and the Home Office about who was in charge of the warning system. This was not for any practical or technical reason but more to do with who would be blamed if a false alarm were given or if an attack occurred without warning. By the 1980s, the warning was to be given on the ord ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Python (codename)
Python was a Cold War contingency plan of the British Government for the continuity of government in the event of nuclear war. Background Following the report of the Strath Committee in 1955, the British government developed contingency plans for the continuity of government. This included construction of the underground Central Government War Headquarters (CGWHQ), codenamed "Burlington", at Corsham in Wiltshire. As planned, it would have been a "reserve Whitehall" where the central government could be moved in an emergency and, hopefully, survive a nuclear attack. As nuclear weapons became more powerful and intercontinental ballistic missiles became more of a threat than crewed bombers, the concept of concentrating central government in a single location became flawed. Instead, government would be dispersed around the country with just core functions at CGWHQ. The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 prompted a radical rethink of continuity plans. Part of the thinking was that the " ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Industrial Sector
In macroeconomics, the secondary sector of the economy is an economic sector in the three-sector theory that describes the role of manufacturing. It encompasses industries that produce a finished, usable product or are involved in construction. This sector generally takes the output of the primary sector (i.e. raw materials like metals, wood) and creates finished goods suitable for sale to domestic businesses or consumers and for export (via distribution through the tertiary sector). Many of these industries consume large quantities of energy, require factories and use machinery; they are often classified as light or heavy based on such quantities. This also produces waste materials and waste heat that may cause environmental problems or pollution (see negative externalities). Examples include textile production, car manufacturing, and handicraft. Manufacturing is an important activity in promoting economic growth and development. Nations that export manufac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manchester University Press
Manchester University Press is the university press of the University of Manchester, England, and a publisher of academic books and journals. Manchester University Press has developed into an international publisher. It maintains its links with the University. Publishing Manchester University Press publishes monographs and textbooks for academic teaching in higher education. In 2012 it was producing about 145 new books annually and managed a number of journals. Areas of expertise are history, politics and international law, literature and theatre studies, and visual culture. MUP books are marketed and distributed by Oxford University Press in the United States and Canada, and in Australia by Footprint Books; all other global territories are covered from Manchester itself. Some of the press's books were formerly published in the US by Barnes & Noble, Inc., New York. Later the press established an American office in Dover, New Hampshire. Open access Manchester University Pr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
National Health Service
The National Health Service (NHS) is the term for the publicly funded health care, publicly funded healthcare systems of the United Kingdom: the National Health Service (England), NHS Scotland, NHS Wales, and Health and Social Care (Northern Ireland) which was created separately and is often referred to locally as "the NHS". The original three systems were established in 1948 (NHS Wales/GIG Cymru was founded in 1969) as part of major social reforms following the Second World War. The founding principles were that services should be comprehensive, universal and free at the point of delivery. Each service provides a comprehensive range of health services, provided without charge for residents of the United Kingdom apart from dental treatment and optical care. In England, NHS patients have to pay prescription charges; some, such as those aged over 60, or those on certain state benefits, are exempt. Taken together, the four services in 2015–16 employed around 1.6 million people ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Radiation Poisoning
Acute radiation syndrome (ARS), also known as radiation sickness or radiation poisoning, is a collection of health effects that are caused by being exposed to high amounts of ionizing radiation in a short period of time. Symptoms can start within an hour of exposure, and can last for several months. Early symptoms are usually nausea, vomiting and loss of appetite. In the following hours or weeks, initial symptoms may appear to improve, before the development of additional symptoms, after which either recovery or death follows. ARS involves a total dose of greater than 0.7 Gy (70 rad), that generally occurs from a source outside the body, delivered within a few minutes. Sources of such radiation can occur accidentally or intentionally. They may involve nuclear reactors, cyclotrons, certain devices used in cancer therapy, nuclear weapons, or radiological weapons. It is generally divided into three types: bone marrow, gastrointestinal, and neurovascular syndrome, with bone m ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Population Density
Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (other), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopulation Density Geography.about.com. March 2, 2011. Retrieved on December 10, 2011. Biological population densities Population density is population divided by total land area, sometimes including seas and oceans, as appropriate. Low densities may cause an extinction vortex and further reduce fertility. This is called the Allee effect after the scientist who identified it. Examples of the causes of reduced fertility in low population densities are: * Increased problems with locating sexual mates * Increased inbreeding Human densities Population density is the number of people per unit of area, usually transcribed as "per square kilometre" or square mile, and which may include or exclude, for example, ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
