Nuclear weapons, or rather, the atomic bomb was close to being developed, and Arthur wasn't surprised at all.
Truthfully, even though it took the Americans about ten years after to develop the atomic bomb, from the time the Manhattan Project was officially established, it only took them around three years.
Australasia had begun its research on the atomic bomb right after World War I and had been doing so for about ten years now.
Given that it had a monopoly on most of the uranium mines in Congo, if the development of the atomic bomb in Australasia did not experience rapid growth, it would only indicate that the scientists involved were incompetent.
In fact, with the full force of the nation behind it, although the development of the atomic bomb was not as easy as one might imagine, it was certainly not as difficult either.