UK Programme and the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment
The British nuclear weapons programme, then operating under the project name 'High Explosive Research' within the Ministry of Supply, established operations on 1 April 1950 at the former RAF Aldermaston airfield.[4] However, the starting point of the overall programme was the MAUD Committee in the early 1940s, just two years after Meitner, Hahn and Strassmann confirmed the nuclear fission reaction in Berlin.[5][6] The UK soon joined forces with the US as part of the Manhattan Project, establishing early nuclear research alongside Canada at Chalk River. Shortly after Nazi Germany was defeated, the former Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin was quoted as saying:
"We have got to have this thing over here, whatever it costs... we have got to have a bloody Union Jack on top of it..."
The site for the new AWE was to be an airfield. The airfield was constructed in World War II and had been used by the Royal Air Force and the United States's Eighth and Ninth Air Force as a troop carrier (C‑47) group base, and was assigned USAAF station No 467. In 1952, the High Explosive Research project was renamed the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment (AWRE), with William Penney appointed as the first director.[7]
Changes in ownership
In 1954 AWRE was transferred to the newly created United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA). In 1971, under the provisions of the Atomic Energy Authority Act 1971, the production activities of UKAEA were transferred to the newly created British Nuclear Fuels Ltd. (BNFL).
In 1973 AWRE was transferred to the Procurement Executive of the Ministry of Defence, see Atomic Energy Authority (Weapons Group) Act 1973. Parts of AWRE's weapons production processes were carried out at two Royal Ordnance Factories (ROFs): ROF Burghfield and ROF Cardiff. In 1984 these two ROFs were separated from the other ROFs, which were then formed into a government-owned defence company, Royal Ordnance plc and was privatised in 1987. ROF Burghfield and ROF Cardiff remained within the Procurement Executive and came under the control of AWRE.
In 1987, AWRE was combined with ROF Burghfield and ROF Cardiff to form the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE),[4] these sites being renamed AWE Burghfield and AWE Cardiff (the latter was closed in 1997).
It remained with the Ministry of Defence, Procurement Executive. However, in 1989, the UK government announced its intention to find a suitable private company to run AWE under a Government Owned/Contractor Operated (GO‑CO) arrangement.
Private management
In 1993 the government awarded a contract to Hunting-BRAE, a consortium of Hunting Engineering, Brown and Root and AEA Technology. During Hunting-BRAE's management AWE decommissioned the RAFs WE177 freefall nuclear bomb. In 1998 the company suffered two prosecutions for safety breaches, one for discharge of tritium into a nearby stream[8] and another for an incident where two workers inhaled plutonium.[9]
In 1999 Hunting-BRAE lost the contract to AWE Management Ltd (AWE ML), a consortium of BNFL, Lockheed Martin and Serco. AWE ML's subsidiary, AWE plc, assumed responsibility for the operation of all AWE sites on 1 April 2000. This was not full privatisation as the Ministry of Defence continued to own all the AWE sites as well as a golden share in AWE plc.
Critics pointed out that BNFL and Lockheed Martin did not have perfect safety records either. BNFL suffered embarrassing revelations of falsified quality checks in nuclear fuels and Lockheed was the subject of scathing reports on the operation of US nuclear facilities.
Return to government management
In November 2020, it was announced that the Ministry of Defence had triggered a contractual break point and would take ownership of AWE Plc in July 2021.[2][3] Sir John Manzoni was announced as chair-designate, and he formally took on the role of chair of the board on 1 July 2021.[17] In November 2025 AWE announced 400 - 500 redundancies are expected.
