The Strath Committee was set up by the
British Ministry of Defence
The Ministry of Defence (MOD or MoD) is the Departments of the United Kingdom Government, department responsible for implementing the defence policy set by Government of the United Kingdom, His Majesty's Government, and is the headquarters of ...
to consider the implications of
thermonuclear weapon
A thermonuclear weapon, fusion weapon or hydrogen bomb (H bomb) is a second-generation nuclear weapon design. Its greater sophistication affords it vastly greater destructive power than first-generation nuclear bombs, a more compact size, a lowe ...
s for the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
.
The Strath Report, issued in 1955, and finally declassified in 2002, estimated the type of damage and casualties
Great Britain
Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...
would suffer from what the Committee considered a "limited"
thermonuclear attack of 10
hydrogen bomb
A thermonuclear weapon, fusion weapon or hydrogen bomb (H bomb) is a second-generation nuclear weapon design. Its greater sophistication affords it vastly greater destructive power than first-generation nuclear bombs, a more compact size, a lowe ...
s dropped on
UK cities
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
. The result of the attack, according to the Committee's Report, would be "utter devastation". There would be up to 12 million deaths, 3 million from
radiation poisoning. The Committee estimated a further four million serious casualties, which would overwhelm the British
medical system
Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, and Health promotion ...
. Half of Britain's
industry
Industry may refer to:
Economics
* Industry (economics), a generally categorized branch of economic activity
* Industry (manufacturing), a specific branch of economic activity, typically in factories with machinery
* The wider industrial sector ...
would be destroyed, logistics and distribution systems would break down, and
food
Food is any substance consumed by an organism for nutritional support. Food is usually of plant, animal, or fungal origin, and contains essential nutrients, such as carbohydrates, fats, proteins, vitamins, or minerals. The substance is inge ...
and
water
Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...
would be contaminated, leaving the 40 million survivors in "siege conditions."
"The Report found it impossible to predict whether Britain could recover with the social and economic fabric of the country destroyed - in even such a limited attack."
The Committee's Report was discussed in a DEFE (Chiefs of Staff, Ministry of Defence) paper entitled "An Appreciation of the Likely Form and Duration of a Future Major War: With Reference to the Problem of Stockpiling in the United Kingdom" (DEFE 5/80, COS (57) 278, 18 Dec 1957).
References
{{Reflist
1955 in the United Kingdom
Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom)
Cold War history of the United Kingdom