Sir Christopher HintonBorn 12 May 1901; died 22 Jun 1983 at age 82.(Baron of Bankside) English engineer who was a leading figure in the development of the nuclear energy industry in Britain; he supervised the construction of Calder Hall, the world's first large-scale nuclear power station (opened in 1956). He first worked for Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) where at age 29 he was appointed chief engineer of the Alkali Groups. While at ICI he was selected to start building nuclear power plants. Britain's first four such plants were completed in six years. He played a founding role in fast breeder technology. The decision to build the Dounreay Fast Reactor was made in 1954, which ran successfully for over two decades, until its planned shutdown in 1977, thus demonstrating the safe operation of the concept. |
