MARALINGA :

Nuclear Testing in Australia.

12 Modern History
 INSTRUCTIONS

This PowerPoint will cover the following syllabus dot point:

‘The nuclear threat and weapons testing, inclusion selection
of Maralinga for British nuclear tests, state secrecy and
impact of the tests on local Aboriginal people and Australian
service personnel’
Read through and make notes based on the information
provided in the following slides. As you read there are some
questions you will be required to research and answer. Further
extension questions to consolidate your knowledge are
provided on the final slide of the PowerPoint.
 SELECTION
When the devastating effects of atomic weapons were revealed by the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in
1945, the Soviet Union and Great Britain accelerated the development of their own nuclear capabilities. In
1950, Britain's Prime Minister Clement Attlee approaches his Australian counterpart, Robert Menzies, to seek
his agreement to test a British weapon on Australian territory. Keen to maintain strong relations with Britain,
Menzies agreed.
During the 1950s and 1960s, as part of its nuclear weapons development program, the United Kingdom
sought locations to conduct nuclear tests. Maralinga was chosen due to it’s remote and sparsely populated
nature, making it suitable for such tests without risking significant immediate civilian exposure.
The British conducted a series of nuclear tests in Maralinga, known was the ‘Operation Buffalo’, ‘Operation
Antler’, and ‘Operation Totem’ test series. These tests included atmospheric and ground-based detonations of
nuclear devices.
Search for Maralinga on Google Maps and describe it’s geographical location.
 TESTING

The tests at Maralinga comprised two separate

series:
• ‘Operation Buffalo’: Two explosions took
place from towers, one at ground level and
another was dropped from an aircraft at
35,000 feet.
• ‘Operation Antler’: Two explosions took
place from towers, and one bomb was
suspended from balloons.
TESTING: OPERATION BUFFALO

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0MgVjCEwd0
 STATE SECRECY

The British government’s decision to conduct nuclear tests in

Australia was kept largely secret from the public, both in the
United Kingdom and in Australia. Public awareness of the
tests was deliberately minimised to avoid opposition,
concerns about environmental impact, and potential political
fallout.
Further, whilst the Australian government was involved with
the tests, the extent of information shared with Australian
officials was limited. Most of the documents surrounding
Maralinga were classified and even some working at the site
were denied access to most of this information.
Whilst the government was aware of the effects nuclear
testing could have, there was little accountability or warning
about how working or living near the site would effect
people. In a lot of cases, the British and Australian
governments downplayed the risks of radiation expose to
avoid opposition.
 IMPACT ON
SERVICE
PERSONNEL

Australian service personnel took part in every

major nuclear test at Maralinga. In earlier test,
RAAF airmen flew through mushrooms clouds to
conduct sampling without adequate instructions of
radiation monitoring devices, and in some
instances without protective clothing.
Veterans of Maralinga suffered higher rates of
cancer mortality than the general population:
• Over 30% of the British and Australian service
personnel who had been exposed to the test
blasts died of cancer.
In 1997, an inquiry was carried out into the health
of servicemen who had been at Maralinga, but the
British Nuclear Test Veterans’ Association. The
report concluded that servicemen who had been
exposed to the blasts were up to ten times more
likely to suffer from cancers than the average
person.
 IMPACT ON INDIGENOUS
PEOPLE

None of the British test adequately considered the presence of the

Anangu and Pitjantjatjara people, especially the greater risk of
radiation exposure faced by families living on country. The first
’Operation Totem’ test at Emu field in 1953, Aboriginal people were
exposed to fallout which they described as ‘Black Mist’.
In addition to radiation danger, Aboriginal people around
Maralinga also faces extreme social, emotional and physical
hardship from being denied access to food and water resources for
more than 30 years. In addition, the higher than usual rates of
cancer deaths experienced by service personnel have also been
experienced by local Indigenous people.
Research and describe what was ‘the Black Mist’?
 Professor John Keane wrote a detailed article
about the effects of British nuclear testing on
servicemen and Indigenous people, for The Age
newspaper in 2003. Keane says anecdotal
evidence highlights servicemen suffering from:
“…Hip and spine deformities. Teeth that are
falling out. Poor eyesight. Bleeding bowels. Post-
PROFESSOR JOHN traumatic anxiety and depression… And perhaps
KEANE a quarter of them have disabled offspring…”
Of Indigenous people who were present in the
radiated areas, Keane says:
“…Women suffered miscarriages. They were
herded in trucks or pushed onto trains, expelled
from a sacred site at Ooldea, a day’s walk from
Maralinga airport”
 CLEAN-UP AND
CONTAMINATION
British nuclear tests were abandoned in 1963 when Britain and Australia
signed the United Nations Partial Test Ban treaty.
When Maralinga closed in 1967 British authorities began cleaning up the
site. Contaminated debris was buried in trenches and topped with
concrete. Plutonium-contaminated soil was simply ploughed into the
ground.
In May 1984 Australian scientists conducted radiation surveys in
preparation for transferring Maralinga to its traditional owners, the
Tjarutja. They found that major and widespread plutonium contamination
remained. The Tjarutja were then not allowed to take passion of
Maralinga until November 2009. Even then, some sections of land remain
off-limits because they cannot be cleaned to a reasonable extent.
Research and comment on Australia and Britian’s response to
compensation for Aboriginal people affected by Maralinga and how the
site has been rehabilitated.
Consider the following website:
https://icanw.org.au/statement-nuclear-testing/ How does this statement
comment on the legacy of Maralinga?
 EXTENSION QUESTIONS

Answer the following questions in your notes:

1. Outline the reasons Maralinga was chosen as the British
nuclear testing site.
2. Describe what occurs in the ‘Operation Buffalo’ film. What
immediate impact do you think this testing would have on the
environment and those personnel not sufficiently protected?
3. Explain why the state and Britain may have opted to keep
these tests secret.
4. Identify 5 different impact on service personnel and
Aboriginal people as a result of exposure to the Maralinga
tests.