The
Maralinga and Emu Field were the scene of UK nuclear testing and were contaminated with radioactive waste in the 1950s.
Maralinga was surveyed by Len Beadell in the early 1950s, and followed the survey of the site called Emu Field, which was further north and which conducted the first two tests.
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The British nuclear tests at
Maralinga occurred between 1955 and 1963 at the
Maralinga site, part of the
Woomera Prohibited Area, in South Australia. A total of seven major 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.
On September 27, 1956, Operation Buffalo commenced at
Maralinga, Emu Field having been found to be too remote a site. The operation consisted of the testing of four fission bombs, codenamed One Tree, Marcoo, Kite and Breakaway. 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 ft . This was the first launching of a British atomic weapon from an aircraft.
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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 site was contaminated with radioactive materials and an initial cleanup was attempted in 1967. The McClelland Royal Commission, an examination of the effects of the tests, delivered its report in 1985, and found that significant radiation hazards still existed at many of the
Maralinga test areas. It recommended another cleanup, which was completed in 2000 at a cost of $108 million. Debate continued over the safety of the site and the long-term health effects on the traditional Aboriginal owners of the land and former personnel. In 1994, the Australian Government paid compensation amounting to $13.5 million to the local
Maralinga Tjarutja people.
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