alone. It also feared that Britain might lose its great power status and its influence in world affairs. It therefore restarted its own nuclear weapons development effort, which was now codenamed High Explosive Research. The first British atomic bomb was tested in Operation Hurricane on 3 October 1952. Development In November 1946, the Air Ministry issued an operational requirement (OR230) for an advanced jet bomber capable of carrying a bomb to a target from a base anywhere in the world with a cruising speed of and at an altitude of between . The bomb weight arose from an earlier operational requirement for an atomic bomb (OR1001), which specified a maximum weight of . The speed and altitude requirements were based on what was thought necessary to penetrate enemy air defences. The aircraft itself was to weigh no more than . The Ministry of Supply baulked, and initially refused to accept OR230. Calculations showed that such an aircraft would require a runway long. Bomber Command's runways were built to handle the Lancaster, and extending them would be an expensive undertaking, involving not only additional construction, but land acquisition and demolition works. OR230 would never be fulfilled, and was ultimately cancelled on 17 September 1952. The Operational Requirements Committee met to discuss OR230 on 17 December 1946. This committee was chaired by the Vice-Chief of the Air Staff, Air Marshal Sir William Dickson, with Stuart Scott-Hall, the Principal Director of Technical Development (Air) representing the Ministry of Supply. The result was a new Operational Requirement (OR229) on 7 January 1947. This was much the same as OR230, but the range was cut to , and the weight reduced to . OR229 formed the basis of an Air Ministry specification, B.35/46. A request for designs went to most of the United Kingdom's major aircraft manufacturers: Handley Page, Armstrong Whitworth, Avro, Bristol, Short Brothers and English Electric. On 30 April 1947, Armstrong Whitworth, Avro, English Electric and Handley Page were invited to submit formal design tenders. A tender design conference was held on 28 July 1947, and decided to order the design submitted by Avro, along with a small flying model to test its delta wing design. The conference also decided to investigate the crescent wing concept as insurance against the favoured delta wing design being a failure. The Handley Page and Armstrong Whitworth designs were both considered. The Ministry of Supply gave financial