Maralinga | Nationwide Museum of Australia
Atomic blast throughout Operation Buffalo nuclear assessments, Maralinga, South Australia
Race to develop nuclear weapons
When the devastating results of atomic weapons had been revealed by the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, the Soviet Union and Nice Britain accelerated the event of their very own nuclear capabilities.
In 1950 Britain’s Prime Minister Clement Attlee approached his Australian counterpart, Robert Menzies, to hunt his settlement to check a British weapon on Australian territory.
Menzies, who was keen to take care of sturdy hyperlinks with Britain, agreed.
Nuclear weapons check websites
On 3 October 1952 Britain carried out its first nuclear weapon trial on the Montebello Islands off the Western Australian coast.
Quickly after, Britain obtained Australian Authorities permission to conduct land-based assessments at Emu Discipline, South Australia. Though two assessments had been carried on the market in October 1953, the remoteness of this website prompted Britain to request a brand new website at Maralinga, nearer to the Trans-Australian Railway.
On 27 September 1956 Britain carried out its first check at Maralinga. Britain carried out 12 main trials of nuclear units throughout the three websites. Some resulted in mushroom clouds reaching heights of 47,000 toes (14,325 metres), and radioactive fallout blown by wind was detected as far-off as Townsville.