Background
White was born in London in 1916 and moved to southern Wales at an early age.
White was born in London in 1916 and moved to southern Wales at an early age.
He studied chemistry at University College, Swansea, graduating at the age of 19 with first-class honours.
He also made significant contributions to the advancement of explosives manufacturing, chemical engineering and civilian nuclear technology, and authored numerous books on engineering. He went on to study chemical engineering at University College London, and then began a career in industrial metallurgy. During the, White worked for the British government as a specialist in ammunition and chemical warfare.
While working for the Royal Ordnance Factories, he patented a method of efficiently manufacturing high explosive shells.
After the war, White worked in military research at the Defence Research Establishments at Waltham Abbey and Porton Down, before moving to the Woolwich Arsenal. In 1949, White joined the secret High Explosives Research (HER) project, which was tasked by Lord William Penney with producing Britain"s first nuclear bomb.
In 1950, HER was moved to Aldermaston, where White served as the chief chemical engineer and helped create a crucial radioactive liquid treatment plant. The HER project culminated in the successful Operation Hurricane, Britain"s first nuclear test, on 3 October 1952.
Thereafter, White continued to work in nuclear science, collaborating with American researchers and contributing to the development of the Dounreay civilian nuclear reactor.
He was appointed Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire in 1966, and retired in 1972, though he continued to advise the British government and private companies on the use of chemical engineering and nuclear technology. He also authored a number of books on chemical engineering and air filtration.