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British Nuclear Testing in Australia
The Maralinga Story
Between 1955 and 1963, the British government conducted secret nuclear tests in Maralinga, an area in the west of South Australia. Seven major nuclear tests were performed, as well as hundreds of minor tests, many of which investigated the effects of fire or non-nuclear explosions on nuclear weapons.
Operation Buffalo was the first major series of tests, spanning September and October 1956 and consisting of the detonation of four nuclear devices. The radioactive cloud from the first of these detonations, codenamed One Tree, reached a height of 11.43km, considerably higher than the expected 8.5km, and radioactivity was detected in South Australia, New South Wales, the Northern Territory, and Queensland. Operation Antler, conducted in 1957, tested a further three weapons.
In 2001, Dr Sue Rabbit Roff, a researcher at Scotland’s University of Dundee, uncovered evidence which suggested that troops had been instructed to walk across the detonation sites within hours of detonation, and then return to these sites in the days following the detonation to expose themselves to radioactive materials. This was later confirmed by the British government, contradicting previous statements made that said than no humans were used in experiments related to nuclear weapons testing.
As well as the major tests, more than 500 minor tests were conducted in absolute secrecy. These series of tests, codenamed Kitten, Tims, Rats and Vixen, involved testing several different properties of the weapons, including ways to make them more efficient and how radioactive weapons reacted to non-nuclear explosions.
In 1967, Operation Brumby, a cleanup operation, was conducted by the UK Ministry of Defence, who attempted to dilute the concentration of plutonium in the soil by turning over and mixing the topsoil. The remains of the explosive devices, including fragments contaminated by plutonium, were buried in pits covered in concrete.
In the 1980’s, both Australian servicemen and traditional Aboriginal occupants of the Maralinga site began to fall ill. After pressure from several lobby groups, the government held a royal commission, called the Royal Commission into British nuclear tests in Australia or the McClelland Royal Commission, after chairman James McClelland. This commission ultimately found that there were still significant radiation hazards around many of the original test sites, and ordered the set up of a Technical Assessment Group to assess the situation and better advise on options for the rehabilitation of the area.
The Group’s plan was approved in 1991, and work took place on site between 1996 and 2000. Major works included the removal and burial of 350,000 cubic metres of soil and debris, as well as the vitrification of eleven debris pits. Much of the site is now considered safe for unrestricted access, while approximately 120 square kilometers is considered safe for access but not for permanent occupancy.
The land where the testing had taken place was returned to the Maralinga Tjarutja, indigenous inhabitants of the Maralinga area, in December 2009. It is still questionable whether the land is actually fit for occupancy
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Of the 8000 Australian service personnel who worked in the nuclear testing program, around 2000 are still alive. Despite a Department of Veteran’s Affairs study which concluded that “only 2% of participants received more than the current Australian annual dose limit for occupationally exposed persons,” a 1999 study for the British Nuclear Test Veterans Association found that 30% of the nuclear test veterans had died, mostly in their fifties, from cancers or cancer-related illnesses.
In addition, a 2007 New Zealand study found that New Zealand sailors who had been exposed to the nuclear testing had three times the level of genetic abnormality and notably higher rates of cancer than the general population. Following a British decision in 1988, the Australian Government negotiated compensation for a small group of Australian servicemen suffering from two specific conditions – leukemia (except lymphatic leukemia) and a rare blood disorder known as multiple myeloma.
http://www.maralingaclassaction.com.au/
Between 1955 and 1963, the British government conducted secret nuclear tests in Maralinga, an area in the west of South Australia. Seven major nuclear tests were performed, as well as hundreds of minor tests, many of which investigated the effects of fire or non-nuclear explosions on nuclear weapons.
Operation Buffalo was the first major series of tests, spanning September and October 1956 and consisting of the detonation of four nuclear devices. The radioactive cloud from the first of these detonations, codenamed One Tree, reached a height of 11.43km, considerably higher than the expected 8.5km, and radioactivity was detected in South Australia, New South Wales, the Northern Territory, and Queensland. Operation Antler, conducted in 1957, tested a further three weapons.
In 2001, Dr Sue Rabbit Roff, a researcher at Scotland’s University of Dundee, uncovered evidence which suggested that troops had been instructed to walk across the detonation sites within hours of detonation, and then return to these sites in the days following the detonation to expose themselves to radioactive materials. This was later confirmed by the British government, contradicting previous statements made that said than no humans were used in experiments related to nuclear weapons testing.
As well as the major tests, more than 500 minor tests were conducted in absolute secrecy. These series of tests, codenamed Kitten, Tims, Rats and Vixen, involved testing several different properties of the weapons, including ways to make them more efficient and how radioactive weapons reacted to non-nuclear explosions.
In 1967, Operation Brumby, a cleanup operation, was conducted by the UK Ministry of Defence, who attempted to dilute the concentration of plutonium in the soil by turning over and mixing the topsoil. The remains of the explosive devices, including fragments contaminated by plutonium, were buried in pits covered in concrete.
In the 1980’s, both Australian servicemen and traditional Aboriginal occupants of the Maralinga site began to fall ill. After pressure from several lobby groups, the government held a royal commission, called the Royal Commission into British nuclear tests in Australia or the McClelland Royal Commission, after chairman James McClelland. This commission ultimately found that there were still significant radiation hazards around many of the original test sites, and ordered the set up of a Technical Assessment Group to assess the situation and better advise on options for the rehabilitation of the area.
The Group’s plan was approved in 1991, and work took place on site between 1996 and 2000. Major works included the removal and burial of 350,000 cubic metres of soil and debris, as well as the vitrification of eleven debris pits. Much of the site is now considered safe for unrestricted access, while approximately 120 square kilometers is considered safe for access but not for permanent occupancy.
The land where the testing had taken place was returned to the Maralinga Tjarutja, indigenous inhabitants of the Maralinga area, in December 2009. It is still questionable whether the land is actually fit for occupancy
--------------------
Of the 8000 Australian service personnel who worked in the nuclear testing program, around 2000 are still alive. Despite a Department of Veteran’s Affairs study which concluded that “only 2% of participants received more than the current Australian annual dose limit for occupationally exposed persons,” a 1999 study for the British Nuclear Test Veterans Association found that 30% of the nuclear test veterans had died, mostly in their fifties, from cancers or cancer-related illnesses.
In addition, a 2007 New Zealand study found that New Zealand sailors who had been exposed to the nuclear testing had three times the level of genetic abnormality and notably higher rates of cancer than the general population. Following a British decision in 1988, the Australian Government negotiated compensation for a small group of Australian servicemen suffering from two specific conditions – leukemia (except lymphatic leukemia) and a rare blood disorder known as multiple myeloma.
http://www.maralingaclassaction.com.au/
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