The Flowers Report recommended that the Edinburgh Regional Computer Centre should receive an ICL System 4/75 which was due for delivery in 1968. The Centre started in June 1966 and to provide some computer power in the interim period, a KDF9 was rented and this arrived in 1967.
In 1967, Rutherford Laboratory had its IBM 360/75 delivered. This vastly increased the computer power available on the Chilton site. Rated about 4 times an Atlas, it significantly changed the relative computer powers of Harwell, Rutherford and the Atlas Computer Laboratory.
Almost a decade later, Harwell finally get their own computer to replace the Mercury. They have existed mainly by using remote systems up to this time.
The Atlas Computer Laboratory started looking at a replacement for Atlas as early as the Spring of 1967. ICL had plans for a multi-processor 1908A that would provide at least 10 times the power of the Atlas and might be as high as 20 times. The machine would have at least two processors with the possibility of going as high as 4 processors. There was strong pressure on the Laboratory to purchase UK equipment and the ICL offering was the only real UK possibility in the time frame that a replacement was required.
Bob Hopgood also visited CDC and had a confidential presentation of the unannounced CDC 7600 which would be of the order of 20 times Atlas and would ensure the processing power required. Possibility of linking this to an ICL system was also considered. This information was relayed back to the Atlas Computer Committee.
With the uncertainty of the timescales for the 1908A, acquiring one or two 1906As was seen as a possible interim measure.
