British nuclear tests at Maralinga

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Maralinga Atomic Test Site
Map showing nuclear test sites in Australia
Type	Nuclear test range
Location	30°10′S, 131°37′E in Australia
Operator	United Kingdom
Status	Inactive
In use	1955 – 1963
Remediation status	Completed in 2000
Testing
Subcritical tests	700
Nuclear tests	7

The British nuclear tests at Maralinga were performed at the Maralinga site on the Nullarbor Plain in South Australia. The site was a joint test facility between the British and Australian governments. It is located at 30°10′S, 131°37′E.

After successfully testing nuclear weapons at Montebello Islands and Emu Field, the British government requested a permanent test site, and Maralinga was subsequently selected for this purpose. A total of seven nuclear tests were performed, with approximate yields ranging from 1 to 27 kilotons. The site was also used for hundreds of minor trials, many of which were intended to investigate the effects of fire or non-nuclear explosions on atomic weapons.

Despite an initial cleanup attempt in 1967, the site was contaminated with radioactive materials. A later cleanup attempt, completed in 2000, was more successful, and work is now underway to return the site to the Maralinga Tjarutja, the traditional Aboriginal owners. Debate continues over the safety of the site and the long-term health effects on former personnel.

Contents 1 Historical context 2 Major tests 3 Minor tests 4 Cleanup and effects 5 Footnotes 6 Further reading 7 External link

[edit] Historical context

On October 3, 1952 the United Kingdom tested its first atomic weapon, named "Hurricane", at the Montebello Islands off the coast of Western Australia.^[1]

A year later the first atomic test on the Australian mainland was Totem 1 at Emu Field on the 15 October 1953 (10 kilotons). Totem 2 (8 kilotons) followed on the 27 October.^[1]

The British government formally requested a permanent test facility on 30 October 1953. Due to concerns about fallout from the previous tests at Emu Field, the recently-surveyed Maralinga site was selected for this purpose.^[2] The new site was announced in May 1955.^[1][3] It was developed as a joint, co-funded facility between the British and Australian governments.^[4]

Prior to selection, the Maralinga site was inhabited by the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara Aboriginal peoples, for whom it had a "great spiritual significance".^[5] Many were relocated to a new settlement at Yulata, and attempts were made to curtail access to the Maralinga site. These were often unsuccessful. One author suggests that the resettlement and denial of access to their homelands "contributed significantly to the social disintegration which characterises the community to this day. Petrol sniffing, juvenile crime, alcoholism and chronic friction between residents and the South Australian police have become facts of life."^[5]

[edit] Major tests

They said, "Count down 90 seconds," you'll turn your back to the tower, "cover your eyes, shut your eyes, cover your hands," and they count down 10, 9, 8... Vivid flash and even with your eyes shut and you're looking through your hands - you can see an x-ray of your hands - heat hit the back of your neck and, you know, blasts went through.

– Peter Webb, present at One Tree and Marcoo^[6]

Two major test series were conducted at the Maralinga site: Operation Buffalo and Operation Antler.

Operation Buffalo commenced on September 27, 1956. The operation consisted of the testing of four nuclear devices, codenamed One Tree, Marcoo, Kite and Breakaway respectively.^[7] One Tree (12.9 kilotons) and Breakaway (10.8 kilotons) were exploded from towers, Marcoo (1.4 kilotons) was exploded at ground level, and Kite (2.9 kilotons) was released by a Royal Air Force Vickers Valiant bomber from a height of 35,000 feet.^{[7][8][9][10]} This was the first launching of a British atomic weapon from an aircraft.

The fallout from these tests was measured using sticky paper, air sampling devices, and water sampled from rainfall and reservoirs.^[11] The radioactive cloud from Buffalo 1 (One Tree) reached a height of 37,500ft, exceeding the predicted 27,900ft, and radioactivity was detected in South Australia, Northern Territory, New South Wales, and Queensland. All four Buffalo tests were criticised by the 1985 Royal Commission, which concluded that they were fired under inappropriate conditions.^[12]

In 2001, Dr Roff of Dundee University uncovered evidence that troops had been ordered to run, walk and crawl across areas contaminated by the Buffalo tests;^[13] a fact that the British government later admitted.^[14] Dr 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."^[15]

Operation Antler followed in 1957. Antler was designed to test components for thermonuclear weapons, with particular emphasis on triggering mechanisms.^[16] Three tests began in September, codenamed Tadje, Biak and Taranaki. The first two tests were conducted from towers, the last was suspended from balloons.^[7] Yields from the weapons were 0.93 kilotons, 5.67 kilotons and 26.6 kilotons respectively.^[8]

The Tadje test used Cobalt pellets as a 'tracer' for determining yield;^[17][12] later rumours developed that Britain had been developing a cobalt bomb.^[17] The Royal Commission found that personnel handling these pellets were later exposed to the active Cobalt 60.^[12]

Although the Antler series were better planned and organised than earlier series, intermediate fallout from the Taranaki test exceeded predictions.^[12]

Major tests at Maralinga

Name	Date[18]	Location[8]	Yield[8][18]	Type[7]
Operation Buffalo
One tree	27 Sep 1956 17:00	29.87° S 131.658° E	12.9 kT	Tower
Marcoo	04 Oct 1956 16:30	29.883° S 131.623° E	1.4 kT	Ground-level
Kite	11 Oct 1956 14:27	28.89° S 131.648° E	2.9 kT	Airdrop
Breakaway	22 Oct 1956 00:05	29.895° S 131.604° E	10.8 kT	Tower
Operation Antler
Tadje	14 Sep 1957 14:35	29.891° S 131.645° E	0.93 kT	Tower
Biak	25 Sep 1957 10:00	29.894° S 131.616° E	5.67 kT	Tower
Taranaki	09 Oct 1957 16:15	29.896° S 131.56° E	26.6 kT	Balloon

[edit] Minor tests

In addition to the major tests, a large number of minor trials were also carried out, from June 1955 and extended through to May 1963.^[1] Although the major tests had been carried out with some publicity, the minor tests were carried out in absolute secrecy.^[19] They were to leave the most dangerous legacy at Maralinga.^[20]

The four series of minor trials were codenamed Kittens, Tims, Rats and Vixen.^[19] In all, these trials included up to 700 tests, with tests involving experiments with plutonium, uranium, and beryllium.^[21]

Operation Kittens involved 99 trials, performed at both Maralinga and Emu Field in 1953-1961.^[18] The tests were used in the development of neutron initiators, involving use of polonium-210 and uranium, and generated "relatively large amounts of radioactive contamination."^[18]

Operation Tims took place in 1955-1963, and involved 321 trials of uranium and beryllium tampers, as well as studies of plutonium compression.^[18]

Operation Rats occurred investigated explosive dispersal of uranium.^[18] 125 trials took place between 1956 and 1960.

Operation Vixen was formulated to investigate what would happen to a nuclear device which burnt or was subject to a non nuclear explosion.^[19] 31 Vixen A trials between 1959 and 1961 investigated the effects of an accidental fire on a nuclear weapon, and involved a total of about 1kg of plutonium.^[22] Twelve Vixen B trials, between 1960 and 1963, attempted to discover the effects of high explosives detonating a nuclear weapon, and involved 22kg of plutonium.^[22] They produced "jets of molten, burning plutonium extending hundreds of feet into the air."^[23] It was the subsequent disposal of the waste plutonium from these minor trials – Vixen B especially – which created the major radiation problems at the site.^[23]

[edit] Cleanup and effects

The cleanup operation was codenamed Operation Brumby, and was conducted in 1967.^[1] Attempts were made to dilute the concentration of radioactive material by turning over and mixing the surface soil.^[23] Additionally, the remains of the firings, including plutonium-contaminated fragments, were buried in 22 concrete-capped pits.^[23]

The McClelland Royal Commission into the tests delivered its report in late 1985, and found that significant radiation hazards still existed at many of the Maralinga test sites, particularly at Taranaki,^[20] where the Vixen B trials into the effects of burning plutonium had been carried out. A Technical Assessment Group was setup to advise on rehabilitation options, and a much more extensive cleanup program was initiated at the site.^[23]

The TAG Report plan was approved in 1991.^[20] In the worst-contaminated areas, 350,000 cubic metres of soil and debris were removed from an area of more than 2 square kilometers, and buried in trenches. Eleven debris pits were also treated with in-situ vitrification.^[20] Clearance certificates have now been issued for the site,^[20] though Alan Parkinson has 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."^[24] Work is underway to return the site to its traditional owners.^[20]

A Department of Veterans' Affairs study concluded that "Overall, the doses received by Australian participants were small. ... Only 2% of participants received more than the current Australian annual dose limit for occupationally exposed persons (20 mSv)."^[25] However, such findings are contested. Terry Toon of the Atomic Ex-Serviceman's Association stated that out of 10,700 personnel who worked in the area over a 10 year period in the 1950s and 1960s there were over 9,000 persons who had died by 2005 and approximately 75-80 percent of those were from cancer.^[26]

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] Further reading

• Robert Milliken (1986). No Conceivable Injury. Penguin Books Australia. ISBN 0-14-008438-X. 

[edit] External link

• Rehabilitation of former nuclear test sites at Emu and Maralinga (Australia) 2003 - Report by the Maralinga Rehabilitation Technical Advisory Committee (MARTAC Report)