British nuclear tests at Maralinga
Maralinga Atomic Test Site in South Australia | |
---|---|
Near Nuclear test range | |
Site information | |
Operator | United Kingdom |
Status | Inactive |
Site history | |
In use | 1955–1963 |
Test information | |
Nuclear tests | 7 |
Remediation | Completed in 2000 |
Between 1956 and 1963, the United Kingdom conducted seven
Operation Buffalo consisted of four tests; One Tree (12.9 kilotons of TNT (54 TJ)) and Breakaway (10.8 kilotons of TNT (45 TJ)) were detonated on towers, Marcoo (1.4 kilotons of TNT (5.9 TJ)) at ground level, and the Kite (2.9 kilotons of TNT (12 TJ)) was released by a Royal Air Force (RAF) Vickers Valiant bomber from a height of 11,000 metres (35,000 ft). This was the first drop of a British nuclear weapon from an aircraft. Operation Antler in 1957 tested new, light-weight nuclear weapons. Three tests were conducted in this series: Tadje (0.93 kilotons of TNT (3.9 TJ)), Biak (5.67 kilotons of TNT (23.7 TJ)) and Taranak (26.6 kilotons of TNT (111 TJ)). The first two were conducted from towers, while the last was suspended from balloons. Tadje used cobalt pellets as a tracer for determining yield, resulting in rumours that Britain was developing a cobalt bomb.
The site was left contaminated with
By the late 1970s there was a marked change in how the Australian media covered the British nuclear tests. Some journalists investigated the subject and political scrutiny became more intense. Journalist Brian Toohey ran a series of stories in the Australian Financial Review in October 1978, based in part on a leaked Cabinet submission. In June 1993, New Scientist journalist Ian Anderson wrote an article titled "Britain's dirty deeds at Maralinga" and several related articles. In 2007, Maralinga: Australia's Nuclear Waste Cover-up by Alan Parkinson documented the unsuccessful clean-up at Maralinga. Popular songs about the Maralinga story have been written by Paul Kelly and Midnight Oil.
Background
During the early part of the Second World War, Britain had a
In the 1950s Britain was still Australia's largest trading partner, although it was overtaken by Japan and the United States by the 1960s. Britain and Australia still had strong cultural ties, and Robert Menzies, the Prime Minister of Australia from 1949 to 1966, was strongly pro-British. Most Australians were of British descent, and Britain was still the largest source of immigrants to Australia, mainly because British ex-servicemen and their families qualified for free passage, and other British migrants received subsidised passage on ships from the UK to Australia. Australian and British troops fought together in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953 and the Malayan Emergency that went from 1948 to 1960.[5] Australia still maintained close defence ties with Britain through the Australia New Zealand and Malaya (ANZAM) area, which was created in 1948. Australian war plans of this era continued to be integrated with those of Britain, and involved reinforcing British forces in the Middle East and Far East.[6]
The Australian Government had hopes of collaboration with Britain on both
On 3 October 1952 the United Kingdom tested its first nuclear weapon in
Maralinga site
Selection
Neither the Montebello Islands nor Emu Field were considered suitable as permanent test sites, although Montebello was used again in 1956 for
- A 160 kilometres (100 mi) radius free of human habitation;
- Road and rail communications to a port;
- A nearby airport;
- A tolerable climate for staff and visitors;
- Low rainfall;
- Predictable weather conditions;
- Winds that would carry the fallout safely away from inhabited areas; and
- Reasonably flat terrain;
- Isolation for security.[17][18]
Elmhirst suggested that a site might be found in
The site, initially known as X.300, was nowhere near as good as the Nevada Test Site, with its excellent communications, but was considered acceptable.
On 2 August 1954, the
Maralinga was to be developed as a joint facility, co-funded by the British and Australian Governments.[35] The range covered 52,000 square kilometres (20,000 sq mi), with a 260-square-kilometre (100 sq mi) test area.[36] With savings arising from the relocation of buildings, stores and equipment from Emu Field taken into account, the cost of developing Maralinga as a permanent site was estimated to cost AU £1.9 million, compared with AU £3.6 million for Emu Field.[37] The British Government welcomed Australian financial assistance, and Australian participation avoided the embarrassment that would have come from building a UK base on Australian soil. On the other hand, it was recognised that Australian participation would likely mean that the Australians would demand access to even more information than in Operation Totem. This had implications for Britain's relationship with the United States. Sharing information with the Australians would make it harder to secure Britain's ultimate goal, of restoring the wartime nuclear Special Relationship with the United States, and gaining access to information pertaining to the design and manufacture of US nuclear weapons.[38]
Development
A railhead and a quarry were established at
The UK MoS engaged a firm of British engineering consultants, Sir Alexander Gibb & Partners, to design the test facilities and supervise their construction. The work was carried out by the Kwinana Construction Group (KCG) under a cost-plus contract. It had just finished the construction of an oil refinery near Fremantle, and it was hoped that it could move on to the new venture immediately, but the delay in obtaining Cabinet's approval meant that work could not start until mid-1955, by which time most of its work force had dispersed. The need to create a new work force caused a cascading series of delays.[39] Assembling a labour force of 1,000 from scratch in such a remote location proved difficult, even when KCG was offering wages as high as AU £40 a week (equivalent to AUD$1,591 in 2022).[40]
The Australian Government elected to create a tri-service task force to construct the test installations. The Australian Army's Engineer in Chief,
The task force, which began assembling in February 1956, included a section from the
The work involved laying, testing and burying some 310 kilometres (190 mi) of control cable. Each 490-metre (1,600 ft) spool of cable weighed about 1 tonne (1 long ton), so where possible they were pre-positioned. The trenches were dug by a cable plough towed by a
Pressed for time, Magee became involved in a series of disputes with the Woomera Range commander, who tried to divert his sappers onto other tasks. In June, the range commander ordered the surveyors to return to Adelaide, which would have brought the work at Maralinga to a halt. Magee went over his head and appealed to the commander of
By 1959, the Maralinga village would have accommodation for 750 people, with catering facilities that could cope with up to 1,600. There were laboratories and workshops, shops, a hospital, church, power station, post office, bank, library, cinema and swimming pool. There were also playing areas for tennis, Australian football, cricket and golf.[36]
Atomic Weapons Tests Safety Committee
Leslie Martin, the scientific adviser at the Department of Defence, could see no issues with the proposed tests, but recommended that in view of the prospect of tests being conducted at Maralinga on a regular basis, and rising concern worldwide over radioactive fallout from nuclear tests, that a permanent body be established to certify the safety of the tests.[48][49] This was accepted, and the acting secretary of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Frederick Chilton, put forward the names of five scientists: Butement; Martin; Ernest Titterton from the Australian National University in Canberra; Philip Baxter from the Australian Atomic Energy Commission; and Cecil Eddy from the Commonwealth X-ray and Radium Laboratory.[49] Butement, Martin and Titterton had already been observers at the Operation Mosaic and Operation Totem tests. The Department of Defence favoured a committee of three, but Menzies felt that such a small committee would not command sufficient public confidence, and accepted all five. A notable omission was the lack of a meteorologist, and Leonard Dwyer, the director of the Bureau of Meteorology was later added.[48] The Atomic Weapons Tests Safety Committee (AWTSC) was officially formed on 21 July 1955.[49]
Aboriginal affairs
Menzies told parliament that "no conceivable injury to life, men or property could emerge from the tests".
MacDougall estimated that about 1,000 Aboriginal people lived in the Central Australian reserve, which extended to the border with Western Australia.
Operation Buffalo
Buffalo | |
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Information | |
Country | United Kingdom |
Test site | Maralinga Range, SA |
Period | 27 September – 22 October 1956 |
Number of tests | 4 |
Test type | air drop, dry surface, tower |
Max. yield | 15 kilotons of TNT (63 TJ) |
Test series chronology | |
Planning and purpose
Operation Buffalo was the first nuclear test series to be conducted at Maralinga, and the largest ever held in Australia.[40] Planning for the series, initially codenamed Theta, began in mid-1954. It was initially scheduled for April and May 1956, but was pushed back to September and October, when meteorological conditions were most favourable. Ultimately all tests on the Australian mainland were conducted at this time of year. The 1954 plan for Operation Theta called for four tests, each with a different purpose.[59]
The UK's first nuclear weapon,
In response, Aldermaston developed a new warhead called
The first test on the agenda was therefore of the new Red Beard design. OR.1127 also specified a requirement for the device to have variable yields, which Aldermaston attempted to achieve through the addition of small amounts of thermonuclear material, a process known as "boosting". A 91-metre (300 ft) tower was built at Maralinga for a boosted weapon test in case sufficient
The interdepartmental Atomic Trials Executive in London, chaired by
Test 1: One Tree
The first test, codenamed One Tree, was a tower-mounted test of Red Beard, scheduled for 12 September. This was the main test to which the media were invited. Butement, Dwyer, Martin and Titterton from the AWTSC were present,[67] and Beale arrived from Canberra with a delegation of 26 politicians,[68] but weather conditions were unfavourable, and the test had to be postponed.[69]
The schedule was revised to allow for a morning (07:00) or evening (17:00) test, and after a few days of unfavourable weather it was rescheduled for 23 September. Once again the politicians arrived but returned disappointed. This put Penney under great pressure. On the one hand, if Maralinga was to be used for many years then riding roughshod over Australian concerns about safety at an early date was inadvisable; on the other, there was the urgent need to test Red Beard in time for the upcoming Operation Grapple, the test of a British hydrogen bomb. Whether Buffalo or Grapple was more important was the subject of debate in the UK between Willis Jackson, who argued for Buffalo, and Bill Cook, who argued for Grapple. Jackson's view prevailed; Grapple would be postponed if need be.[67]
Australian journalists were critical of the cancellations. There were allegations that the delays had caused the deaths of cattle that had contracted
Some observers were surprised that the detonation seemed to be silent; the sound wave arrived a few seconds later. The yield was estimated at 16 kilotons of TNT (67 TJ).[73] The cloud rose to 11,400 metres (37,500 ft), much higher than expected.[74] After about eight minutes, a Canberra bomber flew through the cloud to collect samples.[73] Along with a secondary cloud that formed between 5,000 and 7,000 metres (16,500 and 23,000 ft), it drifted eastward. The main cloud crossed the east coast at about 11:00 on 28 September, followed by the secondary between 12 and 18 hours later. Rain on 29 September deposited some fallout between Brisbane in Queensland and Lismore in New South Wales.[75]
Test 2: Marcoo
The next test was Marcoo, a ground test using a Blue Danube device with a low-yield core. In the hope that sharing the results might lead to fuller cooperation, the test had been discussed with the Americans by the
Test 3: Kite
Kite was an air drop using a Blue Danube device with a low-yield core, the only air drop conducted during Operation Buffalo. Originally the air drop was supposed to be the last test of Operation Buffalo, but after the Marcoo shot Penney decided to swap the last two tests, making the air drop the third test.[78] The air drop was the most difficult test, as the worst-case scenario involved the radar fuses failing and the bomb detonating on impact with the ground, which would result in severe fallout. The RAF therefore conducted a series of practice drops with high explosive bombs.[64] In the end, in view of the AWTSC's concerns about the dangers of a 40-kiloton-of-TNT (170 TJ) test, a low-yield Blue Danube core with less fissile material was substituted, reducing the yield to 3 kilotons of TNT (13 TJ). Titterton and Dwyer were on hand for the shot.[78]
On 11 October 1956,
Test 4: Breakaway
The final test, Breakaway, was of a boosted Red Beard device. The shot was conducted from a 30-metre (100 ft) tower. Once again there were delays due to unfavourable weather that pushed it back from 18 to 22 October.[78] It was detonated at 00:05 on 22 October, with a yield of about 10 kilotons of TNT (42 TJ).[82] As on previous tests, the fallout was measured using sticky paper, air sampling devices, and water sampled from rainfall and reservoirs.[83] This time the cloud was tracked with the help of a Trans Australia Airlines (TAA) Douglas DC-4 diverted from its flight path.[82] The cloud reached 11,000 metres (35,000 ft) but soon became widely dispersed between Darwin in the Northern Territory and Newcastle in New South Wales. The highest reading recorded by the ground survey was at Ingomar, South Australia, about 310 kilometres (190 mi) from the test site.[78]
Summary
Name | Date + time (UTC) | Local time | Location
|
Elevation + height | Delivery | Purpose | Device | Yield | References |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1/One Tree | 27 September 1956 07:30 | 17:00 ACST (9.5 hrs) | Maralinga Range, SA 29°52′08″S 131°39′33″E / 29.8688°S 131.6593°E | 180 m (590 ft) + 31 m (102 ft) | Tower | Weapons development | Red Beard | 15 kt | [84] |
2/Marcoo | 4 October 1956 07:00 | 16:30 ACST (9.5 hrs) | Maralinga Range, SA 29°52′54″S 131°37′29″E / 29.8818°S 131.6247°E | 180 m (590 ft) + 0.2 m (7.9 in) | Dry surface | Weapon effect | Blue Danube | 1.5 kt | [84] |
3/Kite | 11 October 1956 05:57 | 15:27 ACST (9.5 hrs) | Maralinga Range, SA 29°53′21″S 131°39′29″E / 29.8892°S 131.6581°E | 180 m (590 ft) + 150 m (490 ft) | Air drop | Weapons development | Blue Danube | 3 kt | [84] |
4/Breakaway | 21 October 1956 14:35 | 00:05 ACST (9.5 hrs) | Maralinga Range, SA 29°53′35″S 131°36′17″E / 29.8931°S 131.6047°E | 190 m (620 ft) + 31 m (102 ft) | Tower | Weapons development | Red Beard | 10 kt | [84] |
Operation Antler
Antler | |
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Information | |
Country | United Kingdom |
Test site | Maralinga Range, SA |
Period | 14 September – 9 October 1957 |
Number of tests | 3 |
Test type | balloon, tower |
Max. yield | 26.6 kilotons of TNT (111 TJ) |
Test series chronology | |
Planning and purpose
The July 1956 Suez Crisis brought US-UK relations to a low ebb, rendering the prospect of the use of US facilities in the near future remote.[85] On 20 September 1956, the UK High Commissioner informed Menzies of the UK's intention to continue minor trials in March through October 1957, with another major test series in September and October. The main implication was that the range would be in use for most of the year. A minimum of 228 personnel would be required all year round, rising to 354 from March to July, and 400 from July to October.[86] The codename Sapphire was initially allocated to the 1957 test series, but the RAF complained that that codename had already been allocated to the Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire aircraft engine.[87] The name was briefly changed to Volcano until the Australians objected, and then to Antler.[88]
At the AWTSC meeting on 7 December 1956, Martin suggested that the committee be reconstituted. A three-person Maralinga Safety Committee chaired by Titterton, with Dwyer and D. J. Stevens from the Commonwealth X-ray and Radium Laboratory as its other members, would be responsible for the safety of nuclear weapons tests, while a National Radiation Advisory Committee (NRAC) consider public health more generally. This reflected growing disquiet among the scientific community and the public at large over the effects of all atmospheric nuclear weapons testing, not just those in Australia, and growing calls for a test ban.[89][90] Nonetheless, Operation Buffalo had attracted little international attention.[91] The British Government rejected calls for a moratorium on testing, and announced at the US-UK talks in Bermuda in March 1957 that it would press on with the Operation Grapple hydrogen bomb tests.[92] Martin's proposal was accepted, and the composition of the new NRAC was announced on 7 July 1957.[93] John Moroney was appointed secretary of both committees. The AWTSC continued to report to the Minister of Supply, while the NRAC reported directly to the Prime Minister.[94]
The first round of Operation Grapple tests was unsuccessful in demonstrating a working hydrogen bomb design. This left plans for Operation Antler in disarray. By mid-June 1957, proposals for Antler included up to seven tests: of a surface-to-air warhead called Blue Fox, a small warhead called Pixie, four different versions of Red Beard, and a round designed to test the principle of radiation implosion. Initially it was planned to test Blue Fox (later renamed Indigo Hammer) in both boosted and unboosted form, but the disappointing results of boosting thus far meant that the benefit of boosting would be too small to warrant it, and this version was discarded. Pixie was an even smaller, lightweight (110-kilogram (250 lb)) warhead with a
The UK had considerable experience with barrage balloons during the Second World War but the proposed use of balloons to carry warheads to a higher altitude than achievable with a tower was an innovation for Operation Antler. Use of balloons did away with the engineering effort to build towers, and allowed a test site to be re-used, saving on the effort to construct instrumentation sites and lay cables. Most importantly, whereas low-level detonations sucked up contaminated radioactive dirt from the ground and the vaporised tower, a high-altitude detonation created fallout only from the bomb itself, and were therefore much cleaner.[97] While accepting this point, the AWTSC was apprehensive about the consequences of a runaway balloon carrying a live atomic bomb.[98] Bill Saxby and J. T. Tomblin from Aldermaston and an RAF balloon expert visited the Nevada Test Site to observe the work Americans were doing with balloons, and it was suggested that Titterton should also visit Nevada.[99] Safety procedures were developed that included, in an extreme circumstance, shooting down the balloons. Titterton and Beale then accepted the use of balloons.[100]
In July 1957, the Australian Government was informed of the UK authorities' decision to limit Operation Antler to just three tests. There would be two tower tests of 1.5 kilotons of TNT (6.3 TJ) and 3 kilotons of TNT (13 TJ), codenamed Tadje and Biak respectively, and only one balloon test, a 20-kiloton-of-TNT (84 TJ) test codenamed Taranaki.[101] Helping the Pixie test (which became known as Tadje) remain on the schedule was the deletion of Red Beard tests. It was decided that the third test would be of a Red Beard with a composite uranium-plutonium core, which had not yet been tested, while the pure plutonium Red Beard would go into production without further testing.[95]
Charles Adams was appointed the test director, with J. A. T. Dawson as his deputy, and J. T. Tomblin as the superintendent.
Test procedures were streamlined based on the experience in Operation Buffalo so that it took six hours to set up a tower test and eight for a balloon test. This allowed the testers to take advantage of transient but suitable weather conditions.[102] Invitations to send observers were sent out to all nations with defence cooperation agreements with Britain, which included NATO countries, and fourteen accepted. Australia would send 24 observers, along with Beale's party of 20 parliamentarians. A media contingent of 20 was also accommodated.[109]
Test 1: Tadje
The Tadje test was scheduled for 12 September 1957, but was postponed to 13 and then 14 September due to the weather. Firing occurred at 14:35 on 14 September, in weather conditions that were almost ideal. The yield was about 1.5 kilotons of TNT (6.3 TJ) as expected. The cloud rose to 2,900 metres (9,500 ft), a little higher than predicted, and headed in a northerly direction.[110][111] The Tadje test used cobalt-60 pellets as a "tracer" for determining yield.[112][110] This fuelled rumours that Britain had been developing a cobalt bomb.[113] The Range staff found the pellets scattered over the landscape. They had not been informed of its use, and their nature was discovered only by accident by Harry Turner, the Australian Health Physics Representative (AHPR). The only member of the AWTSC informed about the decision to use cobalt was Titterton, who did not inform the other members or Turner.[114] Personnel handling these pellets were exposed to the active cobalt-60.[112]
Test 2: Biak
The Biak test was scheduled for the following week, 21 September, but rain was forecast and the AWTSC cancelled the detonation. The meteorologists predicted a short break in the weather the following day, but with morning fog until 10:00. The fog cleared up by around 03:30. It was decided to detonate at 10:00 despite forecasts that some fallout would be deposited on the Taranaki test site. The yield was around 6 kilotons of TNT (25 TJ) as expected, but the cloud rose much higher: 7,300 metres (24,000 ft) instead of the forecast 4,300 metres (14,000 ft), with a secondary cloud forming at 4,600 metres (15,000 ft). Weather conditions were good, but as feared, fallout was deposited on the Taranaki site.[115][116]
Test 3: Taranaki
While Tadje and Biak were fired from towers, Taranaki was the balloon test. A contract was let for 110,000-cubic-foot (3,100 m3) balloons, but it soon became clear that they could not be produced in time, so 70,000-cubic-foot (2,000 m3) balloons were substituted, of a type used by the
Taranaki was tentatively scheduled for 7 October, but high upper-level winds caused a postponement. It was eventually decided to fire at 16:15 on 9 October. The yield was around 26.6 kilotons of TNT (111 TJ), somewhat higher than expected, but the cloud rose to 7,000 metres (23,000 ft) with a secondary cloud forming at 3,000 metres (10,000 ft), which was much lower than the 8,600 metres (28,300 ft) expected. Since the Australian Government had not set limits on fallout, the AWTSC accepted the recommendations of the NRAC. The result was that the permissible limits were double that of those set for the Operation Buffalo tests. As a result of the balloon detonation, the fireball did not touch the ground, and fallout was limited in both volume and extent.[118][116] The use of balloons was thus revealed to be far more difficult than anticipated, but the anticipated advantages were realised, and balloons would subsequently be used successfully in the Operation Grapple tests on Christmas Island in the Pacific.[117]
Summary
Name | Date + time (UTC) | Local time zone | Location
|
Elevation + height | Delivery | Purpose | Device | Yield | References |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1/Tadje | 14 September 1957 05:05 | 14:35 ACST (9.5 hrs) | Maralinga Range, SA 29°53′23″S 131°38′48″E / 29.8898°S 131.6467°E | 180 m (590 ft) + 31 m (102 ft) | Tower | Weapons development | Pixie | 930 t | [84] |
2/Biak | 25 September 1957 00:30 | 10:00 ACST (9.5 hrs) | Maralinga Range, SA 29°53′33″S 131°37′02″E / 29.8926°S 131.6172°E | 180 m (590 ft) + 31 m (102 ft) | Tower | Weapons development | Indigo Hammer | 6 kt | [84] |
3/Taranaki | 9 October 1957 06:45 | 16:15 ACST (9.5 hrs) | Maralinga Range, SA 29°53′41″S 131°35′30″E / 29.8948°S 131.5916°E | 180 m (590 ft) + 300 m (980 ft) | Balloon | Weapons development | Red Beard | 26.6 kt | [84] |
Minor trials
In addition to the major tests, some 550 minor trials were also carried out between 1953 and 1963. These experiments were
Although the major tests were carried out with publicity, the conduct of the minor trials were more secretive,[122] especially after 1958, as the British Government wished to avoid publicity during the talks in Geneva that led to the 1963 Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.[121] The minor trials were planned and carried out by the UK authorities with little or no Australian involvement other than logistical support. The British Government submitted proposals for trials to the AWTSC, but its role was limited to advising the Australian Government whether to approve a series of tests; unlike the major tests it had no right to veto a specific minor trial. After 1960, proposals also had to be referred to Martin in his role as the Australian Defence Scientific Advisor. Radiological safety was the responsibility of the AHPR.[120] Ultimately, the minor trials had far greater long-term environmental impact than the major tests, although these effects were limited to the range areas.[123]
Kittens series
Nuclear weapons use a
Five tests were conducted at the K site at Emu Field, about 13 kilometres (8 mi) from the Operation Totem test site on 26 and 30 September and 6, 14 and 17 October 1953.[124] These experiments dispersed about 36 grams (1.3 oz) of beryllium and 407 curies (15,100 GBq) of polonium-210 into the surrounding area.[125] Most of the contamination was within a 12-metre (40 ft) radius, with some debris being thrown up to 370 metres (400 yd) away. All contamination was within the restricted area.[124]
From these tests an improved initiator design emerged that was smaller and simpler, which the scientists were eager to test. A site in the UK would save time and money, although
An alternative considered was Wick in Scotland. Contamination there could be blown out to sea, but the site was otherwise far from ideal. The weather there was generally wet, and the high humidity would interfere with experimental apparatus. Moreover, although downwind contamination would be acceptable, the local authorities could not be reassured that it would be zero.[124] Lieutenant Colonel K. Stewart noted that "I doubt if the people owning the estates in Scotland would look on that with very great favour. They are interested in pheasants and deer in Scotland."[128] The dry weather and isolation of Maralinga provided a better option.[124]
The December 1952 aide-mémoire covering Operation Totem made no mention of minor trials,[128] and they came to the notice of Australian authorities only when Australian assistance was requested in preparing the site,[129] but Australian concurrence was sought for all subsequent trials.[128] The Wilson mission requested that in addition to conducting major atomic tests, the UK could conduct a series of Kitten trials as part of Operation Buffalo.[130][48] The Australians asked for details, and in response Aldermaston provided a comprehensive report on The Scope and Radiological Hazards of Kittens in February 1955. This was referred to Martin for comment. He could see no issues with the proposed tests,[48][49] and they were approved by the AWTSC. A Kitten test site was established at Naya, east of the main Maralinga range.[131] A public announcement of the Kitten trials was issued in the UK on 25 February 1955 and in Australia the following day.[132]
Six Kitten tests were carried out at Naya in March 1956. Thereafter, they became a regular part of the testing program,[131] with 21 more tests carried out in 1957,[133] 20 in 1959,[134] and 47 in 1960 and 1961, after which they were discontinued owing to the development of external neutron generators.[131] Kitten experiments at Naya dispersed 7,004 curies (259,100 GBq) of polonium-210, 750 grams (26 oz) of beryllium and 120 kilograms (260 lb) of natural and depleted uranium.[125]
Tim series
Tim experiments were concerned with the measurement of how the core of a nuclear weapon was compressed by the shock wave of the high explosive component. The passage of the shock wave through the assembly was measured and recorded using detectors and high-speed photography. Tim tests used real nuclear weapon assemblies, but cores of natural or depleted uranium, which is chemically identical to
Rat series
Rat trials also investigated the properties of shock waves. They had the same objectives as the Tims, and differed only in the way that measurements were carried out. Instead of using external sensors, the Rats employed an intense but short-lived
Vixen series
Vixen trials involved safety testing. They were about assuring that the core of a nuclear weapon would not accidentally undergo criticality in the event of a fire or unintended crash. These were messy, for a successful test subjected the core to high explosives in the hope that it simply scatters rather than undergoes criticality. These tests sometimes involved some yield from fission, but in every case this was less than the yield from the weapon's conventional explosive component.[136] The British Government's position was that so long as the nuclear explosion component was less than 10 tonnes of TNT (42 GJ) there was no violation of the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which was then under discussion, but no such limit was agreed upon.[137] While the AWTSC could determine whether there were public health and safety issues with a test, it could not assess whether there were political issues. However, after some consideration, the Australian Government did approve the proposed Vixen test program.[138][139]
Some 31 Vixen A trials were conducted in the Wewak area at Maralinga between 1959 and 1961 that investigated the effects of an accidental fire on a nuclear weapon, and involved a total of about 68 kilograms (150 lb) of natural and depleted uranium, 0.98 kg of plutonium of which 0.58 kg was dispersed, 99 curies (3,700 GBq) of polonium-210 and 1.96 curies (73 GBq) of
The Vixen B experimental tests used explosives to blow up nuclear warheads containing plutonium to simulate what would happen in an air crash. In total, twelve Vixen B were conducted at the Taranaki site in 1960, 1961 and 1963, resulting in it becoming the most contaminated site at Maralinga. The tests were conducted on steel structures known as feather beds.[136] The tests produced "jets of molten, burning plutonium extending hundreds of feet into the air."[140] The damage to the feather beds and their concrete stands was much greater than anticipated, and a new feather bed was used for each round. At the conclusion of each, all the debris was buried in nearby pits. Eventually there were 21 pits containing 830 tonnes (820 long tons) of material contaminated with 20 kg of plutonium. Another 2 kg of plutonium was scattered about the test site.[136]
Plutonium is not particularly dangerous externally as it emits
During the Operation Antler trials, the British Government had given the AWTSC reassurances that safety measures were in place to prevent balloons from breaking loose. Despite this, two balloons broke free during a squall on 22 July 1959. One was subsequently recovered but the other was not. A board of inquiry was held,[138] but an even more embarrassing incident occurred on the night of 23/24 September 1960, when seven of the eight balloons being readied for experiments broke free of their moorings during a thunderstorm. Five were recovered on the range on 27 September, but two were lost and drifted further afield, one being recovered near Cobar in New South Wales on 24 September and the other around Hungerford in New South Wales, which was not located until 1 October. Titterton wrote a critical letter to the AWRE. It was clear that the procedures to prevent balloon escapes had been inadequate and the self-destruction devices were unreliable.[142][143][144]
Fallout
In the late 1950s, Hedley Marston's research into nuclear fallout from the Maralinga nuclear tests brought Marston into bitter conflict with the AWTSC, resulting in one of the more memorable feuds in Australian science.[145] Marston was the head of the Division of Biology and General Nutrition at the CSIRO, and was commissioned by the AWTSC to study the concentrations of iodine-131 in the thyroids of sheep and cattle. A 1954 American report assessed that there was no public health danger, but the AWTSC wanted to be able to monitor the Australian situation. Surveys started before the tests at Maralinga commenced in order to establish a baseline. Marston's results indicated a rise in iodine-131 due to Operation Mosaic. It was not enough to pose a public health hazard—his results indicated that the concentration was about 1 per cent of the acceptable limit—but it did indicate that fallout was more widespread than first thought. He then attempted to extrapolate his results to strontium-90, but a valid assessment could not be made in this way, and was therefore no more than speculation. In 1961 the AWTSC published a study where the bones of deceased people (especially children) were burnt to ash and then measured for strontium-90. It did find an increase in strontium-90 in Australia, but it was a quarter of that recorded in the UK. Although fallout from the 1958 Operation Grapple thermonuclear tests was detectable in the UK, none was detected in Australia.[146][147]
Closure
Maralinga was conceived as a testing ground where major tests could be conducted annually, but this did not occur, and Operation Antler was the last major test series conducted there. One reason was public sentiment. A 1952 poll indicated that 58 per cent of Australians supported British nuclear testing in Australia, with only 29 per cent against, but support steadily declined, and by 1957 only 37 per cent were in favour, with 49 per cent opposed. This augured poorly for the future of Maralinga should there be a change of government, and the 1961 Australian federal election reduced Menzies' majority to just one seat. The decline in Australian support for testing was part of a worldwide trend that resulted in the moratorium on nuclear testing from November 1958 to September 1961.[148]
Maralinga was now redundant, as the Australian Government's restriction on testing thermonuclear weapons had led to the development of the Christmas Island test site, where there was no such restriction, and its favourable winds carried fallout away. With the
After 1963, Maralinga was placed on caretaker status, and although there was some discussion about conducting minor trials in 1966, as the 1956 Memorandum of Arrangements was due to expire in March of that year. The British Government decided that it would not seek to extend or renew the agreement. A formal memorandum on the termination of the 1956 Memorandum of Arrangements was signed on 23 September 1967, and the UK was released from most liabilities and responsibilities on 21 December 1967.
Legacy
1963–64 cleanup
Cleanup operations commenced at Maralinga with Operation Clean Up in 1963 and Operation Hercules in 1964. These involved the removal of major hazards to permit entry to the test sites. A major cleanup operation codenamed Operation Brumby was conducted in 1967. Attempts were made to dilute the concentration of radioactive material by turning over and mixing the surface soil. Highly contaminated soil from Wewak was buried in the Marcoo crater, and the debris pits were capped. Over time, the short-lived isotopes decayed away, leaving plutonium, with its half-life of 24,100 years, as the main radioactive hazard.[152] In January 1979, the British Government agreed to the "repatriation" of recoverable plutonium that had been buried at Maralinga.[148][153]
1984 committee
In 1984, the
2000 cleanup
A Technical Assessment Group (TAG) was set up to advise on rehabilitation options, and a much more extensive clean-up program was initiated.[155] The TAG Report plan was approved in 1991. Work commenced on site in 1996, and was completed in 2000 at a cost of $108 million.[154][158][159] In the worst-contaminated areas, 350,000 cubic metres (12,000,000 cu ft) of soil and debris were removed from an area of more than 2 square kilometres (0.77 sq mi), and buried in trenches. Eleven debris pits were also treated with in situ vitrification. Most of the site (approximately 3,200 square kilometres (1,200 sq mi) was rendered now safe for unrestricted access and approximately 120 square kilometres (46 sq mi) is considered safe for access but not "permanent occupancy".[154] "A term", British historian Lorna Arnold noted, "that no one would have applied to these regions 30 or 40 years before".[160] Nuclear engineer Alan Parkinson observed that "an Aboriginal living a semi-traditional lifestyle would receive an effective dose of 5 mSv/a (five times that allowed for a member of the public). Within the 120 km2, the effective dose would be up to 13 times greater."[161] The effectiveness of the cleanup has been disputed on a number of occasions.[162][163]
Effects on people
One author suggests that the resettlement of Aboriginal people and denial of access to their
A
In 2001, Sue Rabbit Roff, a researcher from the University of Dundee, uncovered documentary evidence that troops had been ordered to run, walk and crawl across areas contaminated by the Buffalo tests in the days immediately following the detonations;[168] a fact that the British Government later admitted.[169][170] Roff stated that "it puts the lie to the British Government's claim that they never used humans for guinea pig-type experiments in nuclear weapons trials in Australia."[171]
Successive Australian Governments failed to compensate servicemen who contracted cancers following exposure to radiation at Maralinga. However, after a British decision in 1988 to compensate its own servicemen, the Australian Government negotiated compensation for several Australian servicemen with two specific conditions,
Ongoing contamination
It was found in 2021 that radioactive ("hot") particles persist in the soil, after international multidisciplinary team of scientists studied the results produced by a machine at Monash University that could slice open tiny samples using a beam of high-energy ions only a nanometre wide. The analysis of the results suggested that natural processes in the desert environment could bring about the slow release of plutonium over a long period. This plutonium is likely to be absorbed by wildlife at Maralinga.[173][174]
Additionally,
Media coverage
According to Liz Tynan from James Cook University, the Maralinga tests were a striking example of what can happen when the popular media are unable to report on activities that a government may be trying to hide. Maralinga was an example of extreme secrecy, but by the late 1970s there was a marked change in how the Australian media covered the British nuclear tests. Some resourceful investigative journalists emerged, whistle-blowers such as Avon Hudson spoke out and political scrutiny became more intense. The investigative journalist Brian Toohey ran a series of stories in the Australian Financial Review in October 1978, based in part on a leaked Cabinet submission.[176]
In June 1993,
Maralinga: Australia's Nuclear Waste Cover-up is a book by Alan Parkinson that was published in 2007.[179] In it he claimed that the clean-up of Maralinga in the late 1990s was compromised by cost-cutting, and simply involved dumping hazardous radioactive debris in shallow holes in the ground. He stated that "what was done at Maralinga was a cheap and nasty solution that wouldn't be adopted on white-fellas land."[180]
Representations in the arts
Art
- In 1987 Winnie Bamara, who lived near Maralinga, produced a painting for a poster protesting nuclear testing at Maralinga, for the Australian Council for Disarmament and Peace for Maralinga Day, 1987 which was produced by Common Ground Magazine with the support of the people of the Maralinga–Tjarutja community. Her image shows a nuclear bomb exploding on the Maralinga lands as three Indigenous people stand watching, with text that briefly discusses the history of the British Government testing of nuclear bombs at Maralinga.[181]
- National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art Awards in 2017 with one of her iterations of Ngangkaṟi Ngura (Healing Country).[183] Another work of the same title, specially commissioned for the September 2020 issue of Vogue,[184][185] featured in the Know My Name exhibition at the National Gallery of Australia.[183]
Drama
- Ground Zero (1987) is an Australian drama-thriller about a cinematographer (played by Colin Friels) who, prompted by curiosity about some old film footage taken by his father, embarks on a quest to uncover the truth about the tests. It also stars actors Jack Thompson and Indigenous activist Burnum Burnum.[186]
- The Career Highlights of the Mamu is an Australian play by Tjuntjuntjara Aboriginal people, who lived in the desert country of South Australia and Western Australia, and their experience with British nuclear testing at Maralinga and Emu Field. Tribal elders describe being moved out of the area, and the death and illness of their people when they attempted to return to their contaminated homelands.[187][188]
- Maralinga: The Yalata & Oak Valley Communities with Christobel Mattingley, is an information book about the history and culture of the region, the controversy, and its original owners. Aimed at young people, the book was awarded a silver Honour medal in 2010 by the Children's Book Council of Australia.[189] Judy Nunn used the events at Maralinga as a backdrop for her novel Maralinga (2009).[190]
- Australian governments and a serious depiction of the treatment of the Aboriginal people in the area.[192]
- Maralinga Tjarutja, a May 2020 television documentary film directed by Larissa Behrendt and made by Blackfella Films for ABC Television, tells the story of the people of Maralinga. It was deliberately broadcast around the same time that the drama series Operation Buffalo was on, to give voice to the Indigenous people of the area and show how the testing disrupted their lives.[193][194] Screenhub Australia gave it 4.5 stars, calling it an "excellent documentary".[195] The film shows the experiences of the Maralinga Tjarutja people, in which the elders "reveal a perspective of deep time and an understanding of place that generates respect for the sacredness of both", their ancestors having lived in the area for millennia.[192] Despite the disregard for the traditional homelands of the Maralinga Tjarutja shown by the British and Australians involved in the testing, they have continued to fight for their rights to look after the now-contaminated land.[196]
Music
- The Australian rock band Midnight Oil recorded a song about the tests called "Maralinga" on their 1982 LP 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.[197]
- Paul Kelly's "Maralinga (Rainy Land)" is about the effects of British nuclear tests on the Maralinga Tjarutja.[198]
- "After Maralinga" by the British band Latin Quarter is about the aftermath of the nuclear tests.[199]
- Australian singer/songwriter Kelly Chase released the song "Children of the Dust" in 2021, music from the History Detective Podcast, Season 1, Episode 4 "Nuclear Testing at Maralinga."
- "Birthright" from the 1989 album Anderson Bruford Wakeman Howe is about the tests. The liner notes for it state "In 1954 the British Government, in order to maintain the balance of power between East and West, exploded their first atom bomb at Woomera. They failed to contact all of the Aborigine peoples at the time. The Aborigines still call this 'the day of the cloud.'"[200]
Notes
- ^ Gowing 1964, pp. 108–111.
- ^ Jones 2017, pp. 1–2.
- ^ a b Gowing & Arnold 1974a, pp. 181–184.
- ^ Cathcart 1995, pp. 24, 48, 57.
- ^ Arnold & Smith 2006, pp. 20–21.
- ^ Reynolds 2000, pp. 82–85.
- ^ a b Arnold & Smith 2006, pp. 21–22.
- ^ Gowing & Arnold 1974a, p. 147.
- ^ Reynolds 2000, pp. 54, 122–128.
- ^ Reynolds 2000, pp. 109–111.
- ^ Arnold & Smith 2006, p. 21.
- ^ Reynolds 2000, pp. 92–93.
- ^ Reynolds 2000, p. 166.
- ^ Jones 2017, p. 25.
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- ^ a b Symonds 1985, p. 227.
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- ^ a b McClelland 1985a, p. 139.
- ^ Symonds 1985, pp. 228–229.
- ^ Symonds 1985, pp. 247–248.
- ^ Beadell 1967, p. 162.
- ^ Symonds 1985, pp. 249–250.
- ^ Symonds 1985, p. 230.
- ^ a b Arnold & Smith 2006, p. 89.
- ^ a b Symonds 1985, p. 236.
- ^ Tynan 2016, pp. 1–2.
- ^ Symonds 1985, p. 241.
- ^ a b Greville 2002, p. 472.
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- Maralinga Rehabilitation Technical Advisory Committee (2002). Rehabilitation of Former Nuclear Test Sites at Emu and Maralinga (Australia) 2003 (PDF) (Technical report). Canberra: Department of Education, Science and Training. (PDF) from the original on 5 April 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
- ISBN 978-0-644-04435-6. Archived from the original(PDF) on 31 March 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2018.
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Further reading
External links
- Maralinga Nuclear Test – 1957 – Movietone Moments
- Aerial photo of the Taranaki and Kite test sites (Maralinga village & airfield are situated approx 20 miles to the South)
- Maralinga Rehabilitation Project
- Backs to the Blast, an Australian Nuclear Story
- We were involved in nuke test: veterans
- Australian Atomic Confessions film