Atomic Thunder Read online

  ATOMIC

  THUNDER

  ELIZABETH TYNAN is an academic at the James Cook University Graduate Research School in Queensland. A former journalist, she has a background in print and electronic media; previously she was a reporter and subeditor at the ABC and a correspondent for New Scientist magazine. She has also worked as a writer and editor at CSIRO, the Australian National University and the Australian Institute of Marine Science. Born in South Australia, she has long been fascinated by Maralinga and in 2011 completed a PhD on aspects of British nuclear testing in Australia. She is also a freelance science writer and editor, and co-author of the textbook Media and Journalism: New Approaches to Theory and Practice, now in its third edition, and of Communication for Business.

  ATOMIC THUNDER

  THE MARALINGA STORY

  ELIZABETH TYNAN

  A NewSouth book

  Published by

  NewSouth Publishing

  University of New South Wales Press Ltd

  University of New South Wales

  Sydney NSW 2052

  AUSTRALIA

  newsouthpublishing.com

  © Elizabeth Tynan 2016

  First published 2016

  This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part of this book may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Inquiries should be addressed to the publisher.

  National Library of Australia

  Cataloguing-in-Publication entry

  Creator: Tynan, Elizabeth, author.

  Title: Atomic Thunder: The Maralinga story / Elizabeth Tynan.

  ISBN:

  9781742234281 (paperback)

  9781742242446 (ebook)

  9781742247830 (ePDF)

  Notes: Includes index.

  Subjects: Nuclear weapons – Great Britain – Testing.

  Aboriginal Australians, Treatment of – South Australia – Maralinga.

  Radioactive pollution – South Australia – Maralinga.

  Cold War.

  Australia – Politics and government – 1945–1965.

  Great Britain – Politics and government – 1945–1964.

  Maralinga (SA).

  Dewey Number: 994.05

  Design Josephine Pajor-Markus

  Cover design Blue Cork

  Cover images Landscape at Maralinga, 2007: Wayne England/Wikimedia

  Commons. John L Stanier at Maralinga in protective clothing, with a camera also protected in a plastic cover [detail], c. 1950s: National Archives of Australia A6457, P214.

  Extract from ‘The Boy in the Bubble’, p. 11: Words by Paul Simon. Music by Paul Simon & Forere Motloheloa. © Copyright 1986 Paul Simon (BMI). All rights reserved. International copyright secured. Used by permission of Music Sales Limited.

  All reasonable efforts were taken to obtain permission to use copyright material reproduced in this book, but in some cases copyright could not be traced. The author welcomes information in this regard.

  To the future.

  May it learn something from the past.

  Contents

  Acknowledgments

  Abbreviations

  Measurements

  Map

  Prologue

  1 Maralinga buried, uncovered

  2 Britain’s stealthy march towards the bomb

  3 Monte Bello and Emu Field

  4 Mushroom clouds at Maralinga

  5 Vixen B and other ‘minor trials’

  6 The Australian safety committee

  7 Indigenous people and the bomb tests

  8 D-notices and media self-censorship

  9 Clean-ups and cover-ups

  10 Media, politics and the Royal Commission

  11 The Roller Coaster investigation

  12 The remains of Maralinga

  Appendix: British atomic tests in Australia

  Glossary

  References

  Bibliography

  Index

  Acknowledgments

  As a bookish introvert, I enjoy nothing more than the challenge of living inside a big writing project. I have lived inside this one for quite a while. I haven’t been entirely on my own, though. In fact, without the magnificent contribution of a number of people, there would be no book. I hasten to add that while I have been greatly assisted by some excellent individuals, if there are any errors in this book they are mine alone.

  My incomparable mother, Rosemary Jennings, has been central to the creation of this book. Her experience as a history researcher, including work for the Australian Dictionary of Biography, honed her acute historical brain and great love of history. She is also naturally pedantic and has directed this superpower onto my work. She has picked up errors that I have not been able to see, and she has been a sounding board for my ideas. She is one of the few people who will allow me to talk at length about Maralinga without suddenly remembering that she has to be somewhere else. I am grateful to have been able to do that, because sometimes the ideas just want to come out, and having someone willing to receive them has been inexpressibly important to me.

  I would also like to thank radiation scientists and Maralinga experts Dr Geoff Williams and Mr Peter Burns. My visit to Geoff and Peter at the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Authority in Melbourne in 2004 planted the seed of an idea that later became my PhD thesis and still later became this book. I never knew that the Maralinga story was so rich and fascinating and terrible until I spent those crucial, life-changing hours in the presence of such knowledgeable scientists. Both Geoff and Peter have been kind enough to read parts of the manuscript to check for factual accuracy. Geoff also introduced me to Graeme Newgreen, who worked at Maralinga during the tests, and Graeme kindly read part of the text too.

  Paul Malone was one of the intrepid investigative journalists who took on th Maralinga story when it became an important media event in the 1980s. His work with Howard Conkey at the Canberra Times revealed a complex story that he worked meticulously to uncover. He has generously given me access to his extensive archive of original documents relating to the nuclear tests in Australia, and I have drawn upon them gratefully and at length.

  One of Australia’s best journalists, Brian Toohey, broke the story about plutonium contamination in a series of stories in the Financial Review in 1978. He kindly answered my questions about his Maralinga reporting when I put them to him while researching my PhD. I have quoted those answers in this book as well, to help provide some insights into the era of uncovering that he did so much to initiate. I acknowledge the considerable contribution of the late Ian Anderson, a science journalist of great talent and influence who was taken too soon. His work in the early 1990s in uncovering the true extent of plutonium contamination caused by Vixen B at Maralinga was an object lesson in why investigative journalism is essential in a democracy. I was privileged to work with him briefly at New Scientist; he taught me so much. His widow, Dr Robin Anderson, generously gave me access to parts of Ian’s personal archive in the early stages of my PhD research.

  I gratefully acknowledge my employer, James Cook University. Part of the work involved in this book was carried out during a period of study leave in 2014. I particularly acknowledge the dean of graduate studies, Distinguished Professor Helene Marsh, who has always shown heartening and much-appreciated confidence in my abilities. Thank you also to linguists extraordinaire Professor Alexandra Aikhenvald and Professor Robert Dixon at James Cook University, who did the detective work that tracked down the origin of the word Maralinga.

  This book had its genesis in the work I did for my doctorate. I would like to thank and acknowledge my supervisor at the Australian National University (ANU), Professor Sue
Stocklmayer, and also Dr Will J Grant, both at the National Centre for the Public Awareness of Science. My PhD was a life-changing experience, and I thank them for their role in it.

  My dear friend Susan Davies, who lives in New York and has been away for so long, will always be close to my heart. There truly is no friend like one’s oldest friend. I am fortunate all-round in the quality of my friends. Special mentions to Melissa Lyne, Nicola Goc, George Roberts, Nadine Marshall, Marilyn Chalkley and Annie Warburton, who have all in a multitude of ways enriched my life.

  My family is kind, loving and supportive, and I care for them deeply. With gratitude and love, I thank Dad (Frank), Inta, Meredith, Andrew, Narelle, Sophie and Alexander. As a long-time ANU employee, Dad knew some of the key players in this story and was able to share some tales. Also, my grandfather, Dad’s dad, worked for a while with Len Beadell, and Dad has helped me source material about Beadell’s exploits. I also thank my wider family – my delightful aunts, uncles and cousins – and mention in particular my dear Uncle Glen, who has always taken a keen interest in my Maralinga research. Thanks also to Brett.

  An important marker of a robust democracy is ready access to a nation’s documents. I have made extensive use of the National Archives of Australia and the National Archives of the United Kingdom and have always found the experience rewarding and, indeed, rather exciting. There’s nothing like a set of old documents to get the blood racing. Sincere thanks to the staff at both archives for assisting me so ably.

  I am indebted to Phillipa McGuinness at NewSouth Publishing, who saw promise in the Maralinga story and decided to take a chance on me. Thanks also to the always friendly and efficient Emma Driver, who has helped guide me through the process of becoming a NewSouth author. The term eagle-eyed barely begins to cover the talents of the editor Victoria Chance, who has been dogged and meticulous in editing this manuscript. Her highly professional work has made a huge difference to the quality of the final product. Thanks also to the proofreader Penny Mansley and the indexer Trevor Matthews, who have carried out their detailed work with admirable diligence.

  I can’t imagine life without the various animals who have filled my heart. I mention in particular Higgy, Minnie, Palmee, Samira, Ramona, Adelaide, Elvis, Lukey, Fred and Agnes. My heart still aches for those no longer with me, in particular Monty, Ava, Miranda, Bobby, Lily, Rosie, Wilfred and Wilma.

  The Maralinga story is a vast, sprawling saga. This book is an attempt to provide a concise overview that will be of interest to the general reader, as well as offering a fresh perspective based upon years of analysis of the many diverse forms of evidence available. Many people have a profound stake in the events at all three test sites, most especially Indigenous people and service personnel (the ‘nuclear veterans’). My book does not seek to delve into the fine detail of the grievances of either of these groups, not because their grievances are irrelevant or uninteresting, but simply because to do so would make this a different book altogether. I have instead sought to broaden the view to show Maralinga in its historical and scientific context. What an honour it is to write such a story.

  Abbreviations

  ABC

  Australian Broadcasting Commission (from 1983, Corporation)

  AERE

  Atomic Energy Research Establishment (UK)

  AIRAC

  Australian Ionising Radiation Advisory Council

  ALP

  Australian Labor Party

  ANU

  Australian National University

  ARL

  Australian Radiation Laboratory

  ARPANSA

  Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency

  ASIO

  Australian Security Intelligence Organisation

  AWRE

  Atomic Weapons Research Establishment (UK)

  AWTSC

  Atomic Weapons Tests Safety Committee

  CRO

  Commonwealth Relations Office

  CSIR

  Council for Scientific and Industrial Research

  CSIRO

  Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation

  HER

  High Explosive Research (UK)

  IAEA

  International Atomic Energy Agency

  LRWE

  Long Range Weapons Establishment

  MARTAC

  Maralinga Rehabilitation Technical Advisory Committee

  MAUD

  Military Application of Uranium Detonation (UK)

  MEP

  Maralinga Experimental Programme (UK)

  RAAF

  Royal Australian Air Force

  RADSUR

  Radiation Survey (UK)

  RAF

  Royal Air Force (UK)

  TAG

  Technical Assessment Group

  TNT

  trinitrotoluene

  UK

  United Kingdom

  US

  United States

  USSR

  Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

  Measurements

  During the period of the British nuclear tests, Australia used imperial measurements, and many of the quotes in the book reflect this.

  1 inch = 2.5 centimetres

  1 mile = 1.6 kilometres

  1 pound = 0.45 kilograms

  1 ton = 0.907 tonnes

  Also, until February 1966, Australian currency was pounds, shillings and pence. At the time of the changeover, one Australian pound equalled two Australian dollars.

  Prologue

  Maralinga. The name rolls easily off the tongue. It is a rather beautiful name, an Aboriginal word, but fittingly, given the colonialism at the heart of the Maralinga story, one not anchored in the place itself. The Indigenous people who lived in this part of South Australia for tens of thousands of years never spoke this word until it was transplanted there by white men. The name, from an extinct Aboriginal language called Garik, was officially adopted at a meeting of six Australian public servants and senior military personnel, the Research and Development Branch of the Commonwealth Department of Supply. At 10 am sharp on Wednesday 25 November 1953, long-time chief scientist for the department, the New Zealand–born Alan Butement, tabled it as the first order of business. He almost certainly got the name from anthropologists working in the Northern Territory, although the meeting minutes do not record that detail.

  The new name met with the approval of the British ‘nuclear elite’, the top nuclear scientists from the Atomic Weapons Research Establishment (AWRE) at Aldermaston in southeast England. Charged with finding the right place to test British nuclear weapons, these men appropriated thousands of square kilometres of South Australian desert known to surveyors simply as X300. They turned a pristine Australian wilderness into one of the most contaminated places on earth in the pursuit of technological and geopolitical might for the United Kingdom (UK).

  The nuclear tests started in October 1952 at Monte Bello Islands off the coast of Western Australia and moved briefly to a remote South Australian site called Emu Field in 1953. Even before they went to Emu, though, the scientists knew that it was not suitable for the expansive permanent location they wanted. Instead, Maralinga, not far to the south of Emu, was destined to be the final choice. A formal agreement to carry out atomic tests at Maralinga was signed by the British and Australian governments on 7 March 1956. The first major bomb tests got underway there six months later.

  The word Maralinga means ‘thunder’ in Garik, a language once spoken by the people who lived around Port Essington. This short-lived British settlement, established in the early nineteenth century on the Cobourg Peninsula across from Darwin, today lies in ruins. Maralinga was one of a handful of Garik words recorded by anthropologists working in the territory; there are no known speakers today. Those who bound the word forever to the wildly beautiful red dust land in South Australia knew that it was exactly the right name. The thunder that rolled across the plains was an ominous sound that heralded a new
leading player in a nuclear-armed and infinitely more dangerous world.

  The British nuclear tests in Australia had their direct beginnings in the Manhattan Project. This secret wartime project created the atomic bombs dropped on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, effectively ending the war in the Pacific. The project harboured atomic physicist spies, and their uncovering cleaved the alliance between Britain and the United States (US) that had produced the bombs. The British then turned their eyes towards the vast open spaces of Australia.

  Indirectly, historical forces had long been conspiring to lead British scientists to the Australian outback. The British colonisation of Australia in the eighteenth century may well be the true starting point for this saga. The English explorer James Cook first planted the Union Jack on Australian soil in April 1770, during his epic scientific expedition. Soon after, the entire continent was absorbed into the British Empire, where it remained until 1901. This created a power differential in the relationship between the two lands. Even after Australia became a sovereign nation, strong echoes of its colonial past rang down through the generations, including the years when the British conducted nuclear tests on Australian territory between 1952 and 1963.

  A subspecies of the colonialism that first claimed this island continent pervades this story. After World War II, as Britain’s remaining colonies achieved independence one by one, its days as the world’s biggest imperial power petered out. Colonialism as a broader force receded, but a new form emerged: nuclear colonialism. The term was coined recently – in 1992 – by the US anti–nuclear weapons testing activist Jennifer Viereck, who described it as ‘the taking (or destruction) of other peoples’ natural resources, lands, and well-being for one’s own, in the furtherance of nuclear development’. The term – with its connotations of dominance and imperial superiority – fits the experience in Australia. When the call came from ‘home’, Robert Menzies, prime minister at the time, did not hesitate: Australian territory was immediately put at the disposal of the British, initially without any democratic niceties. In effect, the democratically elected prime minister of Australia decided to ‘lend Australia to the United Kingdom’ without the consent of its people. This, pointedly, was the first of the 201 conclusions of the Royal Commission into British Nuclear Tests in Australia, chaired by James McClelland, in the mid-1980s.