As the head of the British delegation working in the Manhattan Project , Penney initially carried out calculations to predict the damage effects generated by the blast wave of an atomic bomb . Upon returning home , Penney directed Britain 's own nuclear weapons directorate , codename '' Tube Alloys '' , and directed scientific research at the Atomic Energy Research Establishment which resulted in the first detonation of a British nuclear bomb , ( codename '' Operation Hurricane '' ) in 1952 . After the test , Penney became chief adviser to the newly created British government 's United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority ( UKAEA ) . He was later chairman of the authority , which he used in international negotiations to control nuclear testing with the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
Operation Hurricane
Operation Hurricane
William Penney, Baron Penney