Elizabeth Tynan - Atomic Thunder - The Maralinga Story

Nunn May, Alan 50–52, 57

O’Brien, Richard 198

O’Connor, Frank 94, 97, 107, 221, 222

Oliphant, Marcus (Mark) 5–6, 7, 39, 41, 141–142

Ooldea 175–176, 182–83

Operation Antler

Australian concerns 111

AWTSC and use of cobalt-60: 161–163

bomb firings 98, 111–112

radioactive contamination 192

removal of Aboriginal people from test site 191–192

Operation Brumby 229, 233–237, 239, 281–282, 291, 293, 316g

Operation Buffalo 98

Buffalo tests 1–4: 98–102

D-notice system and 222–223

disquiet over 108–109

Indoctrinee Force and 102–106

observed by parliamentarians 251

violation of firing conditions 100–102

Operation Capelin 245–246

Operation Clean-Up 227–228

Operation Cool Off 245

Operation Epicure 3, 64–65

Operation Hercules 136–137, 229–233, 316g

Operation Hurricane

Beale kept in dark about 72

D-notice system and 213–218, 220–221

detonation and target response 70–72

inadequate safety controls 153–154

Indigenous people’s safety 172

limited Australian involvement 96, 147–149

Operation Lighthouse 112

Operation Mosaic

contamination at Monte Bello 246

D-notice system and 222–223

G1 and G2 detonations 85–90

impact on public opinion 109–110

Indigenous people’s safety 173

radioactive cloud 87–89

safety monitoring by AWTSC 88, 154–160

Operation RADSUR 233–237, 282, 316g

Operation Totem

‘black mist’ phenomenon 196–199

D-notice system and 221–222

financial aspects 83–84

first and second tests 78–82

inadequate safety controls 80–81, 153–154

limited Australian input 78

search for a site 74–79

Operation Volcano 111

Ophel, TR 140–141, 144

Oppenheimer, J Robert 46, 48

Owen, George 240–243

Parkinson, Alan 119, 301–302

Partial Test Ban Treaty (PTBT) 121, 126, 227

Pearce, Noah

present at Hurricane and Totem tests 15, 229

RADSUR procedures and 233–236

report on contamination ( see Pearce Report)

role in clean-up operations 228–232, 239–240, 244–245

testimony before Royal Commission 117, 133, 136–137, 165, 230–231, 239–240, 244

visits to Maralinga 19, 233

role in Vixen trials 117, 133, 136–137, 165

Pearce Report

existence of plutonium noted by 16, 238–239, 254–255, 263

faulty measurements and methodology 16, 26–28, 231–232, 280–281, 294

impact on 1968

agreement on contamination responsibility 16, 26, 229, 244, 282, 292

impact on clean-up activities 15–17, 19, 25, 26, 29, 228–230, 234–235, 237–239, 244

public availability 15, 16, 250, 263, 265, 267–268

Peierls, Rudolf 39, 41–42, 56–57

Penney, William

appointed head of HER 59, 307

Buffalo trials 98–104, 107

designs British nuclear bomb 307–308

as head of AWRE 12, 54, 56, 58–60, 62–63, 81, 93

leads British tests in Australia 12, 15, 70–71

Manhattan Project and 46–47

Marston’s gamma ray data and 153

revelation about minor trial contamination 259

as Royal Commission witness 271–272

unaware of ‘black mist’ 197

Petrov spy affair 204

Pilgrim, Roy 120, 133, 134, 136, 165, 233

Pincher, Chapman 58, 80, 107, 206–207, 269

plausible denial of culpability 136

plumes of plutonium oxide 26, 316g

plutonium (Pu), characteristics 24–25, 317g

plutonium-239

dangerous characteristics 24–25, 130–131, 307

use in Vixen B tests 121

plutonium residues at Maralinga

Britain’s denial of responsibility 291–292

British deceit concerning 282–283, 289, 290, 292–293

burial of 16, 26, 120–121, 129, 228, 232, 238–239, 243, 254–256, 259–260, 264, 280–281, 282

discovery of fragments and plumes 23–26, 29–30

media revelation of extent 251–254, 256–263, 265–266, 289, 293–294

noted in Pearce Report 16, 238–239, 254–255, 263

presence of a buried ’discrete mass’ 255–256, 259–260, 262, 264

repatriation to the UK of 121, 137, 255–256, 259, 267, 292

terrorist threat posed by 255, 257–262

see also New Scientist story

Plym, HMS 70–71, 245–246

Polaris missiles 308

polonium 118, 237

Pom Pom incident 192–193

press agencies 219–221

‘Press Reactions to Atomic Trials’ (briefing paper) 109

press reporting see media reporting

Prime Minister’s Department 94, 148, 166, 168, 223, 227

Pritchard, Neil 167

prohibited areas

Maralinga 179

Monte Bello 69, 89

Woomera 74, 177

Project Sunshine 303

public disquiet 159

public opinion 109–111

Pugwash Conference 107

Quebec Agreement 45–46

RAAF see Royal Australian Air Force radioactive clouds

Monte Bello tests 70, 88–89, 112

Operation Buffalo 99–102, 112

radioactive contamination

agreement releasing UK from responsibility 16, 19, 26, 244, 276, 282, 291–292

AIRAC-9 report 19, 270

babies’ bones and 302–303

ARL survey 13–18, 20–30

AWRE’s redefinition 155–156

from buried plutonium 255–256, 259–260, 262, 264

Cabinet submission on 255

George Owen and 240–243

of Indigenous people 172–173, 192–193, 197–198, 283, 292

media reports 248–249, 250, 251–254, 256–263, 265–266

parliamentary questions 249–251, 254, 267

political acceptability 116–117, 135

Radiation Survey 233–237, 282, 316g

TAG investigations 283

Toohey’s disclosures 256–258, 260–263

in USSR 246

Vixen trials 116–117, 121–123, 129, 238–239, 278, 281, 282

see also clean-up activities; nuclear veterans; Pearce Report; plutonium residues at Maralinga

radioactivity 317g

RADSUR (Radiation Survey) 233–237, 282, 316g

RAF see Royal Air Force

Rats trials 118

Red Beard nuclear weapon 100–101, 104–105, 119

remediation plan (1990s) 301–302

Richardson, JF 243

Rickard, Doug 162–163

Rivett, David 207

Roach, WT 197

Roller Coaster tests and data 32, 117, 119, 277–280, 284–285

Roosevelt, Franklin 35, 39, 45, 49

Rosenberg, Julius and Ethel 50

Royal Air Force (RAF), deployment of aircraft 12, 74, 82, 86

Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF)

construction role 95, 216

deployment of aircraft 81–82, 86

see also Hudson, Avon; Tooke, Thomas

Royal Australian Navy

deployment of ships 64, 67, 70

public relations role 214, 216

Royal Commission into British Nuclear Tests in Australia

on Aboriginal people’s safety 171, 173

appointment, members and sittings 271

on ‘black mist’ allegations 196–199

on compensation for nuclear victims 305

condemnation of minor trials 117–118, 132, 164–165

criticism of AWTSC 150–151

endorsement of Kerr Report 270

interrogation of Pearce 117, 133, 136–137, 230–231, 239–240, 244

interrogation of Penney 271–272

interrogation of Titterton 132–133, 138, 140, 143–144

recommendations 272

terms of reference 31

Walsh’s regrets 271

see also McClellan, Peter; McClelland, James

Royal, Simon 293–294

Rutherford, Ernest 6, 23

safety controls

Hurricane and Totem trials 80–81, 153–154

Roller Coaster experiments 117

responsibility for radiological safety 97–98

Vixen trials 127–130, 137–138

see also ARPANSA; AWTSC

Salisbury, Marquess of 134