CVA-01 was a practical carrier, not a remote paper study

Was the Royal Navy's CVA-01 carrier a plausible Cold War plan?

Yes. The design was practical and close enough to realization that steel cutting was only weeks away when it was canceled.

CVA-01 was an executable program with design work and preparations far advanced. Its cancellation therefore removed a carrier the Royal Navy was close to beginning, not merely a distant aspiration. This distinction matters when assessing the opportunity cost of the decision and later British carrier capability.