The programme initiated by the UK Atomic Energy Authority
expanded rapidly after 1954. The expansion was due to the
potential of nuclear power to generate electricity, and also the
need for uranium and plutonium for weapons. The 1955 White Paper
entitled 'A Programme of Nuclear Power' outlined a ten-year plan
for the construction of 12 nuclear power stations at a cost of
£300 million. The paper downplayed the possibility of
environmental contamination and envisaged a further large-scale
expansion of nuclear power after 1965. The design and
construction of the plants was for the purpose of generating
electricity and would be carried out by a consortium of several
private firms. Following the Suez Crisis in 1956, the closure of
the Suez Canal raised questions about the reliability of oil
supplies from the Middle East. The government set up a Nuclear
Power Working Party, which recommended the expansion of the
nuclear programme to meet Britain's energy requirement. The plan
involved the construction of further nu