"Banishing the atom pile bogy": Exhibiting Britain's first nuclear reactor. (18th February 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Boyle, Alison
• Other Names: Sastre‐Juan Jaume guestEditor.; Valentines‐Álvarez Jaume guestEditor.
• Is Part Of: Centaurus. Volume 61:Number 1/2(2019)
• Page Start: 14
• Page End: 32
• Publication Date: 2020-02-18
• Subjects: atom pile -- atomic energy -- banalization -- Britain -- exhibition -- nuclear reactor; Science -- History -- Periodicals; 509
• DOI: 10.1111/1600-0498.12220
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0008-8994

Abstract

Abstract: This paper explores aspects of early British atomic exhibitions by tracing the movement of a display model of Britain's first atomic pile (nuclear reactor) GLEEP. Following the model's journey through a variety of exhibitions aimed at different audiences—commercial fairs, displays staged for communities near the site of the new Windscale reactor, the national museum, and a Commonwealth exhibition—we can see how exhibition organisers adopted a variety of banalizing and obscuring tactics to promote the benign atom while maintaining secrecy over the wider atomic programme.