Steel and Atomic Energy

Britain steels itself for the atomic age - literally, in this promotional film showing steel as the underpinning of Britain's nuclear future

Trying to promote atomic power as the futuristic solution of all our energy needs is hard, especially when the common association of atomic is bombs and radiation. But pushing the story of British enterprise in the innovative use of new steel alloys is a smart strategy. The fact that many of the developments seen here were initially developed as part of Britain's nuclear weapons plans is understandably less of a focus.

The Windscale plutonium production plant's imposing chimneys,which appear at the beginning and end of the film would return to prominence three years later, when a fire at the plant leaked radioactive contaminants across wide parts of the UK and Europe.