One joy of archival research is stumbling across documents that reveal the character of key players. Christopher Hinton, the engineer who pioneered (with others) British power reactors, was a towering personality, often feared. Imagine then a London bureaucrat daring to challenge him on fiscal responsibility, especially as Hinton prided himself on budgetary control.
Witness Hinton responding (Dec 1956) with venom: “It is unwise of you to speak about ‘the breakdown of financial control’ which has arisen to an organisation which, in spending over £40 M., is within 1% of its estimate. Such comment is neither reasonable nor helpful…”
NOTE
Hinton, Christopher. 1956. Hinton to Perrott, Dec. 7, 1956. AB 19/8. National Archives, Kew, United Kingdom.