Maralinga is a small town in the desert of South Australia, famous for nuclear tests that took place there in the 1950s. The site was surveyed by Len Beadell in the early 1950's, and followed the survey of the site called Emu Field, which was further north.

On September 27, 1956, Operation Buffalo commenced at Maralinga. The operation consisted of the testing of four nuclear devices, codenamed One Tree, Marcoo, Kite and Breakaway respectively. One Tree and Breakaway were exploded from towers, Marcoo was exploded at ground level, and Kite was released by a Royal Air Force Vickers Valiant bomber from a height of 30,000 feet [(9,144 metres) This was the first launching of a British atomic weapon from an aircraft.

Operation Antler followed in 1957. Antler was designed to test the triggering mechanisms of the weapons. Three tests began in September, codenamed Tadje, Biak and Taranaki. The first two tests were conducted from towers, the last was suspended from balloons. Yields from the weapons were 1 kiloton, 6 kilotons and 25 kilotons respectively.

The local Tjarutja aboriginal people were not effectively warned of the explosions and many suffered terrible after-effects from fallout. British and Australian servicemen were purposely exposed to fallout from the blasts, to see what happened. All these facts came out in a Royal Commission between 1984-1985. Previously many of the facts were kept from the public.

A 2003 cleanup exercise funded by the Australian and British governments has stabilised much of the more radioactive leftovers from the tests.

References

• Tame, Adrian & Robotham, F.P.J. 1982. MARALINGA: British A-Bomb Australian Legacy. Fontana / Collins, Melbourne. ISBN 0 00 636 391 1.

Links

• British Atomic Testing in Australia (http://www.allshookup.org/quakes/atomic.htm)
• BBC Radio 4 photos from Maralinga (http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/factual/gallery/falloutatmaralinga1.shtml)