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The MAUD Committee was founded, by Winston Churchill, in response to Rudolf Peierls and Otto Frisch memorandum in June 1940. Their memorandum was a discussion of the potential relative ease of obtaining nuclear bomb, compared to earlier projections. All the work in the Frisch-Peierls Memorandum was purely theoretical[1], so the purpose of the MAUD committee was to do the research required for what Frisch and Peierls called a super bomb. The MAUD Committee investigated if applying nuclear technology to make a bomb was, in reality, feasible[2]. The chair of the committee was Thomson. Each university where research was being done had a commander as well. All the research finally culminated, after fifteen months[3], in two reports - 'Use of Uranium for a Bomb' and 'Use of Uranium as a source of power' - known collectively as the MAUD report: . These reports discussed the necessity of a super-bomb for the war. In order to research this further, the British created their own nuclear program officially named The Tube Alloy Project[4].

Frisch-Peierls Memorandum

Otto Frisch and Rudolf Peierls began work on their combined memorandum in March of 1940, three months before the formation of the MAUD committee. It was a three page memorandum examines the theoretical possibility of a so called 'super-bomb'. Its three pages were split up into to parts. The first part was a technical blueprint for a hypothetical atomic weapon. It was projected at the time that it would take over five pounds to produce the critical mass needed for an explosion. They projected a far less amount of uranium needed to produce a critical mass, at around five kilograms for an equivalent to several thousand tons of dynamite[5]. However the a one kilogram bomb would be impressive [6]. The second portion of the memorandum dealt with possible strategies of using the atomic bomb. They were the first to realize that there could be an issue with fall out. Because of the potential fall out, they thought that the British would find it morally unacceptable. Shortly after, Winston Churchill formed the Maud Committee to research this problem in more detail[5].

The Thomson Committee

The committee was first named after its chair, George Thomson. The Thomson Committee was quickly exchanged for a more unassuming name, the MAUD Committee[2]. MAUD is assumed by many to be an acronym, however it is not. The name MAUD came to be in an unusual way. Shortly after Germany invaded Denmark, Niels Bohr had sent a telegram to Otto Frisch. The telegram ended with a strange line "Tell Cockcroft and Maud Ray Kent"[7]. At first it was thought to be code regarding radium or other vital atomic-weapons-related information, hidden in an anagram. One suggestion was to replace the y with an i, producing 'radium taken'. Regardless of how crazy it seemed it was enough to cause concern in Britain[3]. Years later, when Bohr returned to England in 1943, it was discovered that the message was addressed to Bohr's housekeeper Maud Ray and John Cockcroft. Maud Ray was from Kent. Thus the committee was named The M.A.U.D. Committee.

Organization of the Committee

Originally constructed under the Committee for the Scientific Survey of Air Warfare[7], the MAUD Committee achieved independence in June of 1940 with the Ministry of Aircraft Production. The MAUD Committee had been created as a response to the Peierls-Frisch's memorandum[2]. Because of the top secret aspect of the project, only British born scientist were considered. Even despite their early contributions, Peierls and Frisch were not allowed to to participate in the MAUD committee because, at a time of war, it was considered a security threat to have 'enemy aliens' working on a sensitive project. However because of the man power needed to accomplish the project, the Ministry began to recruit ex-aliens or aliens. Soon the Ministry began employing aliens or ex-aliens. However, they did not have contracts directly with the individual scientist; their contracts were held with the universities and the universities could hire whomever they wanted. Even before they began to recruit ex-aliens, Peierls and Frisch had made great contributions to the project. After a letter to the Committee head Thomson, it was agreed that Peierls and Frisch would not be a part of the policy committee. A technical sub-committee was formed with Peierls and Frisch to deal with the separation of uranium.[8]. The MAUD Policy Committee members were[7]:

The Policy was kept small and only comprised of certain representatives from each University Lab. The members of the technical committee were the only scientists that worked in the laboratories, including the 'enemy aliens'[9].

The MAUD Committee's research was split among four different laboratories. Before the fall of 1940, all work was lab research was done at universities, due to strict government regulations. These universities included the University of Liverpool, the University of Birmingham, the University of Oxford, and the University of Cambridge. Each of these laboratories functioned as separate entities of a single system {sfn|Laucht|2012|42}}. At first the research was paid for mainly out of the universities own pockets. In the fall of 1940 this changed, the Ministry of Aircraft production signed contracts that promised additional funding for each university. The Ministry gave 3,000 pounds to the laboratory at Cambridge, 1,000 pounds to the laboratory at Oxford, 1,500 pounds to the laboratory at Birmingham, and 2,000 pounds to the laboratory at Liverpool. They also began to pay some university staff's salary. Chadwick, Peierls, and other professors were still paid form university funds. The university provided materials and extra scientists for each of the participating university laboratories[10].

The University of Liverpool

The division of the MAUD Committee at Liverpool was lead by James Chadwick. At Liverpool they focused on the separation of isotopes through thermal diffusion as was suggested in the Frish/Peierls memorandum. This process is based on the ability of uranium 235 to disperse to a hot surface, while uranium 238 would disperse to a cold surface. Another area of research at Liverpool was to find the probability of actually making a nuclear bomb through cross-sections[11].

The University of Oxford

The division of the MAUD Committee at Oxford was lead by Franz Simon, a German émigré. Simon, who was at risk of exclusion because he was a German émigré, was only able to get involved because of Rudolf Peierls. Peierls pointed out that Simon had already begun research on isotope separation, so the project would get a head start by his participation. The Oxford team was composed mostly non-British scientists, including Nicholas Kurti, Kurt Mendlssohn, and Heinz London. The Oxford team concentrated on isotope separation with a method known as gaseous diffusion[12].

The University of Cambridge

The division of the MAUD Committee at Cambridge was lead by Professor Rideal. This lab tackled two major problems. First they theorized that another element, Plutonium, could be used for a bomb. Even though it would have no impact on the program at the time[13]. Secondly two French scientists, Dr. Halban and Dr. Kowarski, formed the world's first supply of heavy water. Heavy water is water where the hydrogen atoms have a proton and a neutron instead of a proton and an electron[14]. This would have no impact on the bomb but would later be used in a nuclear reactor, to help produce nuclear energy in the future[15].

The University of Birmingham

The division of the MAUD Committee at Birmingham was lead by Rudolf Peierls. Peierls and his crew continued worked on the theoretical problems of a nuclear bomb. In essence they were in charge of finding out the technical features of the bomb. They worked on the specifics of a bomb. Also, along with Klaus Fuchs, Peierls interpreted all the experimental data from the other laboratories: Liverpool, Oxford and Cambridge. Peirels also examined the different processes by which they were obtaining isotopes. By the end of the summer in 1940, Peirels preferred gaseous diffusion to thermal diffusion[15].


The MAUD Report

The MAUD report was a report on the findings of all the research the MAUD Committee did. The report actually came out as two separate reports: 'Use of Uranium as a Source of Power' and 'Use of Uranium for a Bomb'. While some of the report was still theoretical, the reports did answer big questions like, why the uranium 235 was the only possible isotope for a chain reaction, or why it would be a super bomb. The MAUD report was a consolidation of all the research and experiments the MAUD Committee had completed. In July of 1941, Dr. Lauritsen, a United States physicist, visited a MAUD committee meeting where the report was being discussed. He immediately took it back to the United States and brought it to Washington. The United States, who at this time was focused more on the application of uranium as source of power, instantly began work on its own atomic bomb. The MAUD report jump-started the Manhattan Project. Without the MAUD project the Manhattan Project would have been months behind. The MAUD report also catalyzed the formation of the British nuclear program: Tube Alloys[16].


[17]

[18]

The MAUD Committee was founded in June of 1940. The Committee was originally a part of the Committee for the Scientific Survey of Air Warfare, but later gained independence with the Ministry of Aircraft Production[1]. The Committee was conceived after Rudolf Peierls and Otto Frisch published their joint memorandum. This memorandum stated that there was a distinct possibility to create a super-bomb. Work began on the MAUD committee in 1940. Four universities provided the locations where the experiments were taking place.

The laboratory at the University of Birmingham was responsible for all the theoretical work. For example, what size of critical mass was needed for an explosion. The Birmingham lab was ran by Rudolf Peierls, with the help of Klaus Fuchs. Both the laboratory at the University of Liverpool and the laboratory at the University of Oxford worked on the separation of isotopes. However these labs experimented with different types of isotope separation. Liverpool's lab dealt with thermal diffusion which worked based on the assumption that different isotopes of uranium are attracted to different temperatures. The laboratory at Liverpool was ran by James Chadwick. The Oxford lab dealt with gaseous diffusion of isotopes. This method works on the principle that at differing pressures uranium 235 would diffuse through a selective barrier faster than uranium 238. Eventually the most promising method of separation was gaseous diffusion. The laboratory at Oxford was ran by Franz Simon. The lab at Cambridge assumed that another element, what is now called plutonium, could be used as an explosive compound. The accomplishment came from the work of Egon Bretscher and Norman Feather. Oxford, because of fleeing french scientists, also obtained the world's only supply of heavy water, which helped them then theorized the idea the uranium could be used for power. The accomplishment came from the work of Hans von Halban and Lew Kowarski[19].

All the research from the MAUD committee was complied in two reports, commonly known as the MAUD Report. The first report, 'Use of Uranium for a Bomb', discussed the feasibility of creating a super-bomb from uranium, which they now thought to be true. The second report, 'Use of Uranium as a Source of Power' discussed the idea of using uranium as a source of power, not just a bomb. The MAUD committee and report helped bring about the British nuclear program, the Tube Alloys Project. Not only did it help start a nuclear project in Britain but it helped jump-start the American project. Without the help of the MAUD Committee the American program, the Manhattan Project, would have started months behind. Instead they were able to begin thinking about how to create a bomb, not if a super-bomb was even possible[16].

  1. ^ a b Gowing, 1964 & 41.
  2. ^ a b c Laucht, 2012 & 41.
  3. ^ a b Szasz, 1992 & 5.
  4. ^ Gowing, 1964 & 76.
  5. ^ a b Szasz, 1992 & 4.
  6. ^ Szasz & 1992 143.
  7. ^ a b c Gowing, 1964 & 45.
  8. ^ Gowing, 1964 & 47-48.
  9. ^ Gowing, 1964 & 48.
  10. ^ Gowing, 1964 & 52-53.
  11. ^ Laucht, 2012 & 42-43.
  12. ^ Laucht, 2012 & 45-46.
  13. ^ Laucht, 2012 & 43.
  14. ^ Gowing, 1964 & 49.
  15. ^ a b Laucht, 2012 & 44.
  16. ^ a b Gowing, 1964 & 77-80.
  17. ^ Laucht, Christoph (2012). Elemental Germans: Klaus Fuchs, Rudolf Peierls and the making of British nuclear culture 1939-59 (1 ed.). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
  18. ^ Gowing, Margaret (1964). Britain and Atomic Energy 1939 - 1945 (1 ed.). New York: St. Martin's Press. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help)
  19. ^ Laucht, 2012 & 42-45.
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