▁take ▁ur gent ▁action ▁to ▁ac quire ▁u ran ium ▁ore ▁to ▁keep ▁it ▁out ▁of ▁German ▁hands . ▁The ▁Secretary ▁of ▁the ▁Committee ▁for ▁Imperial ▁Def ence , ▁Major ▁General ▁H ast ings ▁Is may ▁asked ▁Sir ▁Henry ▁T izard ▁for ▁an ▁opinion . ▁T izard ▁was ▁s cept ical ▁of ▁the ▁lik elihood ▁of ▁an ▁atomic ▁bomb ▁being ▁developed , ▁reck oning ▁the ▁odd s ▁of ▁success ▁at ▁ 1 0 0 , 0 0 0 ▁to ▁ 1 . ▁ ▁Even ▁at ▁such ▁long ▁odd s , ▁the ▁danger ▁was ▁sufficiently ▁great ▁to ▁be ▁taken ▁seriously . ▁It ▁was ▁not ▁considered ▁worth while ▁to ▁immediately ▁ac quire ▁the ▁u ran ium , ▁but ▁T izard ' s ▁Committee ▁on ▁the ▁Scient ific ▁Survey ▁of ▁Air ▁Def ence ▁was ▁directed ▁to ▁conduct ▁research ▁into ▁the ▁feas ibility ▁of ▁atomic ▁bomb s . ▁Thom son , ▁at ▁Imperial ▁College ▁London , ▁and ▁O li ph ant , ▁at ▁the ▁University ▁of ▁B irmingham , ▁were ▁task ed ▁with ▁carrying ▁out ▁a ▁series ▁of ▁experiments ▁on ▁u ran ium . ▁By ▁February ▁ 1 9 4 0 , ▁Thom son ' s ▁team ▁had ▁failed ▁to ▁create ▁a ▁chain ▁reaction ▁in ▁natural ▁u ran ium , ▁and ▁he ▁had ▁decided ▁that ▁it ▁was ▁not ▁worth ▁purs uing . ▁ ▁Mem or and um ▁▁ ▁As ▁enemy ▁al iens , ▁at ▁least ▁until ▁Pe ier ls ' ▁natural isation ▁papers ▁came ▁through ▁in ▁February ▁ 1 9 4 0 , ▁Fr isch ▁and ▁Pe