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Re: British Nuclear Testing in Australia
Thank you Gordon,
Another good read! :)
Thank you Gordon,
Another good read! :)
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kellyd:redrose: -
Re: British Nuclear Testing in Australia
We need Buddies to back our fight
Paisley Daily Express...Scotland Sep 10 2010 By Lynn Jolly
A CAMPAIGNING pensioner is stepping up his fight to win compensation for veterans who were involved in nuclear testing back in the 1950s.
Last year, the Paisley Daily Express told how jubilant veterans from Renfrewshire had won a David and Goliath legal battle for the right to sue the Ministry of Defence for compensation over the tests, which they claimed involved using young soldiers as guinea pigs.
The MoD launched an appeal against that court decision, sparking a new round of legal arguments, and the lengthy and costly legal case continues to rumble on.
Now it has been announced that the veterans may have to wait until October for a decision to be made by the Court of Appeal.
But campaigners - led by Johnstone man Ken McGinley - are refusing to take this lying down and, last night, they urged members of the public to back their fight by writing to their local politicians.
More than 1,000 former British soldiers claim they - and many of their children - were left with cancer and deformities as a result of severe radiation exposure in the Pacific over half a century ago.
Evidence given by 72-year-old Mr McGinley during the historic case at the High Court in London helped to clinch the result he has been chasing for years on behalf of 21 former soldiers from Renfrewshire and their dependants.
London-based legal firm Rosenblatt Solicitors has been representing the veterans every step of the way.
Now Mr McGinley is hoping that voters can help his cause by writing to MPs and MSPs to ask for support in the effort to establish a compensation scheme similar to those set up for nuclear test veterans from other nations.
He said: "If people could write to their MP or MSP, that would be fantastic. It would be great if lots of people in Renfrewshire put pen to paper to show their support for us.
"I get great support from people who meet me in the street and say that they think what the government is doing to us is terrible. Ordinary people believe this dispute should have been settled a long time ago."
Thousands of soldiers were stationed on Christmas Island half a century ago as Britain and America carried out a series of nuclear tests.
Between 1957 and 1962, the former British colony in the equatorial Pacific played host to 30 nuclear explosions conducted by the British and US militaries.
Codenamed Operation Grapple, Britain's tests at Christmas Island - also known as Kiritimati - and neighbouring Malden Island ranged from a 3,000-kiloton explosion carried out 8,200 feet in the air and far out to sea to a 24-kiloton balloon-suspended in air and burst over land.
By comparison, the bomb dropped at Hiroshima during the Second World War had about a 15-kiloton yield.
Britain carried out a number of atmospheric tests of nuclear weapons in the Pacific Ocean and at Maralinga, Australia, during the late 1950s and early 1960s, with more than 20,000 servicemen involved.
Among these tests were the Grapple Y and Grapple Z series of six detonations at Christmas Island.
Research carried out in 1999 showed that, of 2,500 British servicemen involved, 30 per cent of them had died, mostly aged in their 50s.
In their grandchildren, spina bifida rates are more than five times the normal for live births in the UK.
More than 200 skeletal abnormalities were reported and over 100 veterans' children reported reproductive difficulties.
Mr McGinley has fought a long battle for compensation on behalf of the families of men who, like himself, looked on aghast as huge mushroom-shaped clouds billowed into the sky.
He remembers seeing the bones through his skin as he raised his hands to protect his eyes from the dazzling glare of the blast.
Mr McGinley, former chairman of the British Nuclear Veterans' Association, also suffered burns to his face, neck and chest which required hospital treatment on his return to Britain.
He has since been plagued by illnesses such as skin growths and blood disorders following his service in the Pacific.
Anyone who would like to support his campaign can visit the website at www.theyworkforyou.com, where they will find a list of politicians they can write to in the hope the MoD will apologise to veterans and offer them a compensation scheme.
http://www.paisleydailyexpress.co.uk...7085-27241531/Comment
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Re: British Nuclear Testing in Australia
South Australians join class action blaming Maralinga nuclear testing for deaths
SECRET records detailing the fate of dozens of babies born in the shadow of Maralinga's nuclear testing hold the key to a case that is building as South Australia's largest class action.
More than 100 South Australians have joined a class action against the British Ministry of Defence over deaths and disabilities they believe were caused by nuclear testing at Maralinga more than 50 years ago.
Among them are families of the Woomera babies - more than 60 lives lost, many without explanation, during the decade of nuclear testing, up to 600km away.
Lawyers running the case say it is "just the tip of the iceberg". They have heard only from people who are "very confident" they have a case for compensation
Already, families of some of the stillborn children, hours-old babies and toddlers who account for more than half the plots in Woomera Cemetery for the 1950s and 1960s, have come forward.
Edith Hiskins, 79, of Willaston, gave birth to a stillborn daughter, Helene Michelle, in March 1963, and still is not satisfied with the reason given for her baby's death.
Mrs Hiskins, and her husband John, a serviceman at Woomera, were told the baby girl was stillborn due to "mild toxemia" - a cause not given until years after her death and only after they pushed authorities for a death certificate.
The parents never saw their daughter , who was buried in the cemetery the next day, and they have never seen her medical records. "I would like some answers as to why that happened, because the answers given on her death certificate, I do not find sufficient," Mrs Hiskins said.
"As far as I know, her records were sealed. It was years before we even got a death certificate."
Mrs Hiskins said she, or her family, are likely to join the class action. "There are still questions to be answered and reasons to be given," she said.
In all, the Woomera Cemetery contains 23 graves for stillborn babies born in the hospital between December 1953 and September 1968, and a further 46 graves for other children who died around that period. Autopsies were not always conducted and it is understood the medical records of those 23 stillborn babies remain sealed and held by the National Archives of Australia.
Now, as British lawyers search for others to join the class action against the British Ministry of Defence, they will also push for the secrets of the Woomera baby graves to be revealed.
Hickman & Rose partners Anna Mazzola and Beth Handley, working with the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement in Adelaide, have collected more than 100 names of people who believe they could join a class action for compensation from the British Government.
They will apply for the records of the Woomera babies to be made public.
Secrecy surrounding the disturbing rate of baby deaths and research suggesting fallout from tests blanketed the town despite being more than 600km from the Maralinga testing sites, warrants those families investigating claims as part of the class act, Ms Mazzola says.
Read more: http://www.news.com.au/national/sout...#ixzz0zy2Jcmx6Comment
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Re: British Nuclear Testing in Australia
Victims test justice system
The Independent Weekly. South Australia.
MELISSA MACK
30 Oct, 2010 04:00 AM
Aboriginal victims of nuclear testing in the 1950s are likely to be denied the chance to claim millions of dollars in compensation, with the State Government refusing to help fund their legal fight.
A motion to help fund the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement (ALRM) case was passed by the Legislative Council late Wednesday night without Labor support, making it unlikely to pass the Lower House.
Service personnel, public servants and indigenous residents suffered side-effects including cancer, birth defects and immediate loss of eyesight following exposure to radiation from the British nuclear tests near Maralinga.
Following a landmark ruling in the British courts last year, British ex-servicemen and their widows won the right to take the UK Ministry of Defence to court in a class action suit.
That case is currently under appeal. If the victims are successful, a similar case will be launched by Australian veterans with the support of Sydney law firm Stacks Goudkamp.
ALRM is also hoping to launch a suit to claim compensation for the Aboriginal victims who lived on the land.
Greens MLC Tammy Franks put forward the motion, which asked the Government to contribute to legal costs “so that Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal South Australians can have the opportunity to seek redress for injuries suffered by them during the British atomic testing in South Australia”.
“This is a great moral victory,” Ms Franks said of the win in the Legislative Council.
“I am hopeful this vote will force Mike Rann to reconsider his position and at last put his money where his mouth was on Maralinga.”
Ms Franks said it was disappointing the Government did not vote in favour of the motion. She accused Labor of abandoning its social justice principles.
Labor MLC Bernard Finnigan last night said the testing was “very regrettable”.
But he said the Government “does not support funding the ALRM for the purposes of running a case in the UK with respect to nuclear testing by the British Government in South Australia”.
ALRM chief executive Neil Gillespie has slammed the federal and state governments, saying they cannot deny justice for Aboriginal people.
“The Government is abdicating its responsibility to the Aboriginal people and one would expect the Prime Minister to rectify that.
“It’s an opportunity to do what is right and assist ALRM to help the innocent victims.”
Mr Gillespie said he expected the state and federal governments to provide a dollar-for-dollar commitment to support the case on the basis that it would be returned if the case was won.
The funding would provide support to the UK lawyers in gathering information and research so they can mount a case.
Both the ALRM and veterans’ cases are likely to need significant funding help, with the UK case reportedly already costing £18 million ($A29 million).
Stacks Goudkamp solicitor Michael Giles is working on the veterans case on a “no-win, no-fee” basis. He said it was unlikely the Federal Government would help fund any of the compensation claims.
In 1993, the British Government paid £20 million ($A32.4 million) to the Australian Government as a compensation fund for the clean-up of the nuclear testing sites.
Mr Giles said if the veterans’ case was successful, there would probably be another legal battle between Britain and Australia as to where that compensation money should come from.
But he said the veterans’ case and the ALRM case were different.
“The way the exposure took place is different, which plays a big role legally in determining negligence. There’s a difference between being told to work there and it happening at the place where you go about your daily business.”
http://www.independentweekly.com.au/...px?storypage=1Comment
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Re: British Nuclear Testing in Australia
Nuclear Veterans Take Claim To Supreme Court
UK.
3:21pm UK, Monday November 22, 2010
Miranda Richardson, Sky News Online
British veterans involved in nuclear tests in the 1950s will take their case for compensation to the Supreme Court after the Ministry of Defence won the bulk of its appeal against their claims for damages.:angry:
The Court of Appeal ruled that nine out of 10 test cases could not continue, while the tenth, that of the late Bert Sinfield, could proceed to trial.
The servicemen blame their ill-health, including cancer, skin defects and fertility problems, on involvement in Britain's nuclear tests on the Australian mainland, Monte Bello islands and Christmas Island between 1952 and 1958.
The MoD acknowledges its "debt of gratitude" but denies negligence and fought the cases on the point that they were all launched outside the legal time limit.
In June 2009, High Court judge Mr Justice Foskett ruled that 10 test cases out of 1,011 claims could proceed to full trial.
But today Lady Justice Smith, Lord Justice Leveson and Sir Mark Waller said only one could continue.
The judges said there was no evidence by which the veterans could hope to prove that their illnesses had probably been caused by radiation exposure.
The veterans' solicitor Neil Sampson said: "The court has decided that one lead claimant can proceed to trial but nine cannot.
"We are digesting the full judgment and anticipate making an application to the Supreme Court to overturn today's decision."
Mr Sinfield was 20 when he saw four nuclear explosions and joined scientists testing fish for radiation.
He was diagnosed with rare non-Hodgkin's lymphoma 40 years later.
Doctors said it was likely to be linked to radiation, but the Government threw out the claim.
Mr Sinfield died in 2007 aged 69. His widow, Jean, is fighting his case.
Mrs Sinfield said: "I'm disappointed for all the other cases that lost. This is a setback but it has strengthened us as a group and as a result of this, we resolve to fight on."
But Andrew Robathan, Minister for Defence Personnel, Welfare and Veterans, welcomed the judgment.
"While I have tremendous sympathy with anyone who is ill, the court accepted arguments that the general merits of the claims were extremely weak and said that the claimants had produced no evidence to link illnesses with attendance at the nuclear tests," he said.
It's Called "British Justice" :frown::shocked:
http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-...oD_Wins_AppealComment
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Re: British Nuclear Testing in Australia
As Japan struggles with the impact of a nuclear accident, South Australians are recalling the day radiation was felt across this state.
Remembering SA's own nuclear fallout
21 March, 2011 3:47PM ACDT By Fiona Churchman
In 1956 a series of atomic tests were carried out in the far north of the state at Maralinga, including the dropping of a bomb from a plane on October 11th, with devastating impacts on nearby Aboriginal communities.
Retired academic Roger Cross's book "Fallout" focuses on the drift of radiation many hundred kilometres south of the site to Adelaide.
"Fortunately for South Australia it was rather a small bomb, but it was dropped from a Valiant Bomber and was designed to explode in the air which it did do," Mr Cross told Ian Henschke on 891 ABC Adelaide mornings.
"Part of the cloud blew south towards Adelaide and the minor cloud then blew east as it was supposed to across largely uninhabitated areas towards the towns of Sydney and Brisbane and exit Australia between those two cities.
"But the main part of the cloud actually blew down south towards Adelaide and there was great controversy about that," he said.
Mr Cross says this wasn't admitted to at the time, causing great controversy.
He says authorities didn't realise a man called Hedley Marston who was involved with the tests, checking thyroids of sheep and cattle around the area, also set up a secret experiment at the CSIRO building in Adelaide.
Mr Marston recorded a level of 98 thousand counts per hundred seconds the day after the bomb had been dropped.
"The average count in Adelaide at that time was between 40 and 60 counts per hundred seconds," said Mr Cross.
Mr Marston also carried out some tests on sheep just south and north of Adelaide, finding elevated levels of radiation material in the sheep that were on pasture but not in others that had eaten hay cut the year before.
"This was a very elegant experiment because by luck he had a control, he had this group of sheep that were penned under cover that were just eating hay from previous harvests."
Mr Cross says Hedley Marston was concerned about strontium 90 in particular and it getting into milk and then being consumed by young children and pregnant women.
Anti-nuclear campaigner Dr Helen Caldicott entered medical school in Adelaide in 1956 and told Ian Henschke there was no mention of a possible health impact of the tests, and she is not aware of a study of the human population following that test.
"We the population of Adelaide were kept in ignorance and for that I feel very bad about that as a doctor."
She says you would have to test all the population exposed to radiation throughout their entire life and compare it to people who were not exposed to know if the incidence of cancer was high.
"My prediction is definitely I'm sure it was but we don't have any evidence.
"Adelaide got a hell of a fallout, and I must say as a young medical student not being taught about that I have deep resentment that the public was not informed about it," said Dr Caldicott.
http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/...21/3169570.htm
The scientist Hedly Marston is mentioned in the above report; a series of 5 Youtube video's are on the 1st page of this topic. Silent Storm (Documentary) - 1 to 5
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Re: British Nuclear Testing in Australia
Some interesting comments on this issue on what is [or not] happening in the UK in this matter
Nuclear Test Shame
Honouring Britain's nuclear tests veterans, because the British Government won't.
Robathan apologises…kind of
Cameron: “Wait for the Supreme Court”
Nuclear veterans make news across the UK…
Ministerial botch
Veterans Minister not interested in Veterans
All these stories and more are at the link below
http://nucleartestshame.wordpress.com/Comment
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Re: British Nuclear Testing in Australia
Nuclear tests ravage family's health
10:30 AEST Sun Apr 24 2011 By ninemsn staff
A Perth family has been plagued by serious illness and premature deaths for three generations, after inheriting damaged genes from a serviceman used as a human guinea pig for British nuclear tests in Australia more than half a century ago.
The children of late RAAF serviceman Bob Williamson are now one of 250 Australian families joining British veterans to sue the UK's Ministry of Defence for the devastating atomic experiments in the 1950s.
Their family has suffered cancers, tumours and illness across three generations, but they are not alone.
Bob Williamson was among thousands of soldiers unwittingly exposed to dangerous amounts of radiation when they took part in the testing in remote parts of Australia.
:unimpressed::angry: Then Prime Minister Robert Menzies gave Winston Churchill the go ahead to trial a total of 21 nuclear weapons on the country's soil. :unimpressed::angry:
The radioactive fallout poisoned land at places like Maralinga in South Australia and the Monte Bello islands in Western Australia.
The Australian soldiers taking part didn't stand a chance. Often wearing little more than shorts and shirts, they were simply told to turn their backs when the scientists detonated bombs.
Many of the servicemen began dying of horrific cancers, while others, like Bob, passed their damaged genes onto their children.
A 60 Minutes report airing tonight reveals how Bob's children, Susan, Ken and Jennifer continue to struggle with the devastating impact of the nuclear fallout.
Ken has had prostate cancer and melanoma and Susan has had three bouts of breast cancer.
But they were the lucky ones. They lost three siblings to cancers and tumours at a young age.
"Whether the government pay any compensation or not is irrelevant to me. I want them to stand up and say, this is what we did, sorry," Ken told the Nine Network's 60 Minutes.
"If they covered medical expenses and it wasn’t something that you had to sort of fork out every five minutes, yes, that would be good.
"At least they’re saying, you know, we’re able and quite willing to help you get through this.
Catch the full 60 Minutes report at 7.30pm tonight on Nine.
http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/...familys-healthComment
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Re: British Nuclear Testing in Australia
Britain urged to settle nuclear payout for veterans
The Times July 04, 2011 10:00AM
THE British government was under pressure last night to settle a multimillion-pound fight with more than 1000 veterans of nuclear tests in Australia and the Pacific or risk wasting even more money on a "morally unjustifiable" legal battle that could drag on for years.
Supporters of the pensioners, who participated in Britain's atomic bomb trials in the Pacific in the 1950s, said that it was time for the Ministry of Defence to follow the world's four other main nuclear powers and pay compensation.
A group of veterans who are dying of cancer and other conditions at a rate of about three a month will this month go to the Supreme Court to challenge an attempt by the MoD to have their landmark case thrown out.
Several more former servicemen are being forced to tackle the department at a pensions tribunal next week, where the same government lawyers are trying to block access to a payment scheme reserved for veterans who became ill in the line of duty.
Chris Williamson, Labour MP for Derby North, urged both sides to reach an agreement out of court. "Financially and morally it is the right thing to do to settle now," he said. "MoD civil servants are extremely unsympathetic and using every move in the book to avoid paying out. :angry: There is absolutely no justification for that... Ministers need to exercise their authority and sort this out."
The MoD has already spent about £6.5 million defending compensation claims, while the veterans' fight - funded by a law firm whose costs will be covered by the department if they win - has reached up to £13 million.
Neil Sampson, a senior partner at Rosenblatt, the firm representing the veterans, said: "When we eventually win there is a risk that the total legal costs will exceed the damages that they would pay. Because of the technical arguments raised by the MoD no court has yet considered the real issues in the claim."
Mr Sampson wants the g overnment to set up a compensation fund worth about £30 million that would give one-off payments to eligible veterans or their dependents.
The MoD, however, maintains that there is no evidence that any sickness affecting the veterans was linked to their participation in the atomic experiments, on the Australian mainland, Montebello Islands and Christmas Island. The trials, between 1952 and 1958, were critical in the development of Britain's nuclear warheads, the cornerstone of the country's defence.
The United States, France, Russia and China, which conducted similar trials, have each set up funds to award their atomic veterans.
Terry Bambridge, 75, suffered infertility and bone problems after spending almost a year at Maralinga, southern Australia, from July 1956.
Several of his friends who were also there have since died of cancer.
"There is no doubt that they were affected by the explosions," he said. "Britain ought to act like the other governments. They have to recognise that people have suffered. We were used as guinea pigs. I would like an apology."
Britain's nuclear veterans became aware in the 1980s of the possibility that their presence at the atomic trials had affected their health.
A seemingly disproportionate number of the 26,000 servicemen, also from Australia, Fiji and New Zealand, sent to the sites had died prematurely of a range of illnesses including cancer and heart disease. Complaints of skin disease and infertility were common, while many offspring were sickly.
Jeff Liddiatt, 71, vice-chairman of the British Nuclear Test Veterans Association, a charity, was one of the first people to think about litigation.
Mr Liddiatt, who served with the RAF in Maralinga from 1959 to 1960, was relatively healthy until he reached 50. "Then the problems started like an avalanche. I have had seven operations on my back and am suffering with heart disease."
In early 2000, Mr Liddiatt and his colleagues were granted legal aid to explore the options for suing the government. That support was suddenly withdrawn in 2005, so Rosenblatt took up the increasingly toxic and costly battle.
Mr Sampson now represents 1011 veterans or their surviving family members.
"Every step of the way there has been procedural argument and difficulty," he said. "The government is playing here with people's lives. We are not talking about hundreds of millions of pounds. We are talking about a little compensation for a few elderly and sick people and an apology."
The test case of 10 veterans brought against the MoD had a setback last year when the Court of Appeal ruled that all but one member of the group was time-barred from bringing a claim.
Determined to pursue every avenue, the nine losing veterans will ask the Supreme Court on July 28 for permission to appeal against the judgment. If they are successful, the appeal will probably be heard within a year.
In any event, Mr Sampson is preparing to push forward with the one successful test claim and those of the other 1001 veterans still outstanding
:confused: The MoD said that it has "tremendous sympathy" :pirate: for any veteran who was ill, but a spokesman highlighted the appeal court ruling that "the claimants had produced no evidence to link illnesses with attendance at the nuclear tests".
The ministry advises veterans of the tests to apply for a war pension, but MoD lawyers are fighting 16 such attempts because the link between ill-health and the trials is disputed.
A pensions appeals tribunal is due to decide tomorrow whether to start a series of hearings on the issue from July 11 or delay until September.
THE TIMES
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news...-1226086973472Comment
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Re: British Nuclear Testing in Australia
Gordon, I do not know if the following covers ALL victims, or only the UK forces personnel:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14320465
It has just been released on the BBC site.
RanaldComment
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Re: British Nuclear Testing in Australia
There is some Australian participation in the proceedings, mainly because Australian governments over decades have kept their collective heads in the sand regarding this predicament.Originally posted by Ranald View PostComment
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Re: British Nuclear Testing in Australia
The disappearance of files suggests an awareness of criminality! Thanks Gordon.Comment
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Re: British Nuclear Testing in Australia
Promises have been made/broken over the past 50 years...........I wonder if pigs really do fly :unimpressed: :angry:
Bill offers support to more nuclear veterans
Liz Hobday reported this story on Thursday, September 22, 2011 12:38:08
ELEANOR HALL: The Federal Government is planning to compensate more people who were affected by the British Nuclear testing program at Maralinga more than half a century ago.
It introduced a bill into Parliament this morning that will extend entitlements to more defence personnel who were involved in the program but who haven't yet claimed compensation in part because the program was so secret, as Liz Hobday reports.
LIZ HOBDAY: It's been more than 50 years since the last atomic bomb was detonated at Maralinga in South Australia.
Avon Hudson was a 23-year-old RAAF leading aircraftsman when he worked at Maralinga, not knowing that nuclear bombs had already been tested there.
He says he wasn't told of the dangers of the trials he worked on.
AVON HUDSON: The nuclear veterans who took part in all the bomb tests at the three main sites in Australia, Montebello, Maralinga and Emu, have had a litany of ailments, illnesses and cancers included and other psychological problems for more than 50 years and we get very little support. The only thing we get treated for free through the veterans’ entitlements is cancer.
LIZ HOBDAY: The Minister for Veterans Affairs, Warren Snowdon, has promised a new bill introduced to Parliament, will improve access to compensation and health care for nuclear veterans.
WARREN SNOWDON: The bill will benefit Australian personnel who participated in the British nuclear test program and their dependents by enabling compensation and health care to be provided with a minimum of delay. These amendments are a demonstration of the Government's commitment to continually improve the services and support we provide our current and former military personnel.
LIZ HOBDAY: More than 10,000 servicemen took part in the nuclear testing program, but many nuclear veterans never received the entitlements given to other servicemen, because they didn't serve in a theatre of war.
Warren Snowdon says he's heard from some of those who've been left out.
WARREN SNOWDON: The personnel were involved in the maintenance, transporting or decontamination of aircraft used in the British nuclear test program outside the current legislated British nuclear test areas or time periods. These amendments Mr Speaker will facilitate and streamline access to compensation and health care for these Australian personnel.
LIZ HOBDAY: He says the bill also recognises that entitlements may need to be extended even further.
WARREN SNOWDON: The quality of the records from the test period and the secrecy surrounding the operation means that it is impossible to rule out the likelihood that new information may come to light which warrants further extension of coverage to additional groups of participants.
LIZ HOBDAY: Avon Hudson has been fighting for recognition for these servicemen since the 1980s.
AVON HUDSON: We want full benefits under the Veterans Entitlement Act and a gold card and we should probably also get compensation for the crimes perpetrated against us with radiation illnesses.
LIZ HOBDAY: He says he wants to see the substance of the latest bill.
AVON HUDSON: Until I've read the fine print of that I can't be sure what they're on about but to extend it further to other nuclear veterans that weren't eligible, I'm not complaining about that, if that's what they want to do they should all be brought under same entitlements.
ELEANOR HALL: That's veteran Avon Hudson ending that report by Liz Hobday.
Other background stories at the link http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/con...1/s3323473.htm
I wonder how long we should hold our collective beaths for????
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Re: British Nuclear Testing in Australia
British Nuclear Test "Buffalo Round 1"
Detonated 27th September 1956 55 Years ago.
A short clip of the British nuclear test "Buffalo Round 1"
The first test of Operation Buffalo was conducted at the One Tree site at the test range. It was a test of the Red Beard tactical bomb and yielded 15 kilotons, the largest nuclear test fired during Buffalo. While the AWRE had predicted the cloud to reach a height of 27,900 feet, it reached an altitude of 37,500 feet.
The shot was fired at a time when fallout was predicted to violate the safe firing criteria proposed by the safety committee. Failure to postpone the test due to unfavorable meteorological conditions resulted in higher then predicted fallout to be measured off site, at distances up to 180 miles.
An AWRE report defined two levels of radiation exposure for the Buffalo trials,Level A; level which will not give rise to any observable effects on the body, and Level B; level which could cause a small observable effect such as slight temporary sickness in a few people who had a low threshold to radiation exposure. The Safety Committee stated that aborigines were to be protected to Level A standards. Rain criteria were also established to prevent rain or mist contamination. These safe firing conditions were established to ensure the protection of the environment and people.
Following the Round 1 explosion, measurements confirmed that fallout levels exceeded Level A at locations beyond Coober Pedy, and exceeded Level B for nomadic people where aborigines could be expected to be living.
Major tests at Maralinga[16] Name Date[17] Location[6] Yield[6][17] Type
Operation Buffalo
One tree 27 Sep 1956 17:00 29°52′12″S 131°39′29″E / 29.87°S 131.658°E / -29.87; 131.658 (One tree) 12.9 kT Tower
Marcoo 4 Oct 1956 16:30 29°52′59″S 131°37′23″E / 29.883°S 131.623°E / -29.883; 131.623 (Marcoo) 1.4 kT Ground-level
Kite 11 Oct 1956 14:27 28°53′24″S 131°38′53″E / 28.89°S 131.648°E / -28.89; 131.648 (Kite) 2.9 kT Airdrop
Breakaway 22 Oct 1956 00:05 29°53′42″S 131°36′14″E / 29.895°S 131.604°E / -29.895; 131.604 (Breakaway) 10.8 kT Tower
Operation Antler
Tadje 14 Sep 1957 14:35 29°53′28″S 131°38′42″E / 29.891°S 131.645°E / -29.891; 131.645 (Tadje) 0.93 kT Tower
Biak 25 Sep 1957 10:00 29°53′38″S 131°36′58″E / 29.894°S 131.616°E / -29.894; 131.616 (Biak) 5.67 kT Tower
Taranaki 9 Oct 1957 16:15 29°53′46″S 131°33′36″E / 29.896°S 131.56°E / -29.896; 131.56 (Taranaki) 26.6 kT BalloonComment
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Re: British Nuclear Testing in Australia
MOD spends £5m fighting atomic test cases
4 October 2011 | UK
The Ministry of Defence has spent nearly £5 million fighting the compensation case brought by atomic test veterans.
Junior Defence Minister Lord Astor of Hever says the latest estimate up to April this year for defending the litigation was £4,937,615.
The costs include all the work required for the High Court hearing in 2009, the subsequent Court of Appeal hearing in 2010 and some preparatory work for the Supreme Court hearing of the veterans' application to appeal in July.
At the July hearing, veterans involved in Britain's nuclear weapons tests between 1952 and 1958 were granted leave to appeal in their fight for compensation.
More than 1,000 ex-servicemen say exposure to radiation has led to ill health, such as cancer. The MOD maintains no "causal" link can be proved.
http://www.bfbs.com/news/uk/mod-spen...ses-52196.htmlComment
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