In 1950, the British had requested and were granted a huge chunk of South Australia to create a “permanent” atomic weapons test site.  Australia’s then prime minister, Robert Menzies, was all too happy to oblige.  In September of that year, in a phone call with his British counterpart, Clement Attlee, he had said yes to nuclear testing without even referring the issue to his cabinet.

The damage done to Indigenous people in the vicinity of the test sites is immeasurable and included displacement, injury and death. Service personnel from several countries, but particularly Britain and Australia, also suffered – not least because of their continuing fight for the slightest recognition of the dangers they faced. Many of the injuries and deaths allegedly caused by the British tests have not been formally linked to the operation, a source of ongoing distress for those involved. 

From 1957-78, body parts were taken from corpses for radiological tests without the next of kin being asked for permission or even informed. Nuclear and government agencies seemed particularly interested in radiological testing of dead children – because of concerns about strontium-90 contamination and its potential impact on growing bones. A review of Fallout in the April 2, 2001 Melbourne Age concludes that, “The country will continue to pay the price, perhaps for centuries, for those acts of official stupidity by the Menzies government, which were aided and abetted by scientists who should have known better.” But the scientists knew precisely what was going on … British and Australian authorities were at pains to involve only those scientists who would play the game.

The cost of the clean-up exceeded A$100 million in the late 1990s. Britain paid less than half, and only after protracted pressure and negotiations.

Decades later, we still don’t know the full extent of the effects suffered by service personnel and local communities. Despite years of legal wrangling, those communities’ suffering has never been properly recognised or compensated.

Six decades later, those atomic weapons tests still cast their shadow across Australia’s landscape.   They stand as testament to the dangers of government decisions made without close scrutiny, and as a reminder – at a time when leaders are once again preoccupied with international security – not to let it happen again

Britain conducted 12 major trials of nuclear devices across the three sites. Some resulted in mushroom clouds reaching heights of 47,000 feet (14,325 metres), and radioactive fallout blown by wind was detected as far away as Townsville.

Approximately 1 to 27 kilotonnes of TNT or trinitrotoluene, an

explosive chemical compound(4.2 to 113.0 TJ) were released from the tests carried out at Maralinga as follows:

Operation Buffalo (Maralinga, South Australia):

One Tree – 27 September, 1956 – 12.9 kilotons – plutonium

Marcoo – 4 October, 1956 – 1.4 kilotons – plutonium

Kite – 11 October, 1956 – 2.9 kilotons – plutonium

Breakaway’ – 22 October, 1956 – 10.8 kilotons – plutonium

Operation Antler (Maralinga, South Australia)

Tadje – 14 September, 1957 – 0.9 kilotons – plutonium

Biak – 25 September, 1957 – 5.7 kilotons – plutonium

Taranaki – 9 October, 1957 – 26.6 kilotons – plutonium

Operation Buffalo and Operation Antler were performed between 1956 and 1963 at the Maralinga test site. The British also conducted about two hundreds of so-called “minor trials”, including the highly damaging Vixen B radiological experiments, which scattered long-lived plutonium over a large area at Maralinga. These were aimed at testing the performance of weapons components and investigating safety issues. The plutonium contamination at Maralinga was caused by these minor trials, two of which involved burning plutonium and detonating fissile material using conventional high explosives.

As a result just over 22 kilograms of plutonium-239 was dispersed around the site. Plutonium-239 has a radioactive half-life of more than 24,000 years. This dangerous carcinogen is hazardous to humans if inhaled, ingested or absorbed through breaks in the skin.

Australian personnel took part in every major test. In earlier tests, RAAF airmen flew through mushroom clouds to conduct sampling without adequate instructions or radiation monitoring devices and, in some instances, without protective clothing. Air Force and Army servicemen responsible for decontaminating aircraft and transporting equipment were also exposed to radiation.

None of the British tests adequately considered the presence of the Anangu Pitjantjatjara people, especially the greater risk of radiation exposure faced by families living on country. Following the first 'Operation Totem’ test at Emu Field in 1953, Aboriginal people and white pastoralists were exposed to fallout which they described as a ‘Black Mist’.