The research was spread across several test facilities in the UK , with confusing lines of authority and responsibility . The bomb design was also complex and innovative ; although it started off with the Nagasaki bomb design , completely new methods of arming and of electrical detonation were used . It was realized that a single site was required , and in April 1950 an abandoned World War II airfield , RAF Aldermaston in Berkshire was selected as the permanent home for the British nuclear weapons programme . In 1951 the first scientific staff arrived at Aldermaston , and soon after the HER project vacated the Royal Arsenal . On 3 October 1952 , under the code-name " Operation Hurricane " , the first British nuclear device was successfully detonated off the west coast of Australia in the Monte Bello Islands
Operation Hurricane
Operation Hurricane
William Penney, Baron Penney