Anniversary of First British Nuclear Test
Today marks the anniversary of the first British nuclear bomb test. Operation 'Hurricane' was detonated on Oct 3 1952 off the Monte Bello islands, Western Australia, with an explosive yield of 25 kilotons (the Hiroshima bomb yield was approximately 14 kT).
Using plutonium from both Canada and the Windscale (now Sellafield) UK nuclear reactor, and with navy officers wearing no protective clothing ordered on deck to witness the explosion, the radioactive fallout spread via the southerly current towards the West Australian coast. 30 barrels of radioactive waste was collected during clean up operations and dumped into the sea (1).
British nuclear tests then moved to Emu Field, South Australia, in 1953 before returning to Monte Bello Islands in 1956, then to Maralinga 1956 and 1957 where servicemen and indigenous people were exposed to the tests and left in contaminated areas, with warning signs posted in English only.
1. http://www.atomicforum.org/uk/hurricane.html
