nuclear tests in Australia
agreement on contamination responsibility (1968) 16, 26, 244, 276, 281–282, 292
Australia’s duplicity 293, 300–301, 310
ending of 121, 227
Memorandum of Agreement (1956) 4–5, 93–94, 227, 292
see also names of specific tests (e.g. Operation Buffalo)
nuclear veterans 17–18, 118, 137, 250, 268–269, 272, 289, 303–306, 310 see also Owen, George; Tooke, Thomas
nuclear weapons research
Britain 34–35, 39–44, 53–56, 58–60, 299–300, 307–308
United States 35–36, 44–48
US collaboration with Britain 49–50, 62, 135
Nunn, Judy 310
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