british nuclear testing in the Great Victoria Desert

At the end of World War Two, the United States continued on its nuclear research and development program. Britain had hoped that the Americans would allow a full exchange of technological information, however this hope suffered a severe setback when in early 1946 it was discovered that British atomic scientist, Dr. Nunn May was involved with a Canadian spy ring, giving atomic secrets to the Russians. In response to this, the United States Congress passed the McMahon Act in June 1946, effectively barring the sharing of U.S. atomic knowledge. For several reasons, including national pride, in 1947 Britain decided to commence its own nuclear program, and assigned Dr. (later to become Sir) William Penney to lead it. Penney had been involved in the first post war U.S. tests on Bikini. Russia conducted its first nuclear test in August 1948.

Implicit in Britains decision to make a bomb was the need to test it. Britain hoped to use the American test sites, which were replete with infrastructure, however this idea and further co-operation with the U.S. received a further setback when Klaus Fuchs, a naturalised British scientist who had worked at Los Alamos was arrested on charges of espionage in February 1950. In the eyes of the U.S. the British were leaking like sieves.

On 16 September 1950, Australian Prime Minister Sir Robert Menzies received what was described as "a top secret and personal message from (the British Prime Minister) Mr. Attlee". The message requested permission for British experts to make a detailed reconnaissance of the Monte Bello islands so a firm decision could be taken on their suitability for nuclear testing. Menzies acquiesced to this request immediately, and incredibly no evidence has been produced since that suggests that he consulted any of his Cabinet colleagues or the Government on this decision.

The Department of Supply appointed a security officer whose job it was to visit station owners, particularly to the north and north east, and brief them on "security and nuclear safety". The Woomera Native Patrol Officer, Walter B.McDougall was given the responsibility of ensuring Aboriginal safety. Even though he had spent many years with Aboriginal people, including a stint at Ernabella, his was an impossible task given that many were still living a traditional lifestyle, and the area he had to cover was over 100,000 km.

Around 400 British and Australian personnel were housed in a tent city at Emu. Ten Australian personnel comprised Radiation Hazards Group RH5, responsible for the issue of protective clothing and the decontamination of re-entry teams. The RAAF contributed ten Lincoln bombers and two Dakotas plus air and ground crew support, as well as providing an airfield construction unit to make Emu Claypan an all weather strip. The RAAF were responsible for the co-ordination of all air operations. Australian meteorologists were part of the meteorological team.

More information on the nuclear testing:

Totem One
Totem Two
Kittens
Ground Zero
The clean up
Emu today
The black mist incident