Antinuclear

Maralinga nuclear tests and the environment

areas of fused or ‘glazed’ sand are still contaminated with levels of plutonium which are of a high and dangerous level

The impact of nuclear testing on the Australian environment | Blog About All 16 Feb 2010 “………..As well as the tests at Monte Belle islands, between 1952 and 1963 the British government, with the agreement and support of Australia, carried out ‘major’ tests at two other sites on the Australian mainland at Emu Field and Maralinga in South Australia.

There  were two types of tests Britain conducted, contained explosions and atmospheric. Contained explosions were the most common and involved exploding a nuclear device under ground and were generally used to measure shock wave affects and the general effectiveness of the devices, while atmospheric tests involved the setting off of nuclear devices in the open air to test such things such as dispersion of radiation and the effectiveness of the bombs .

The environmental impact of these tests had wide ranging implications  with radioactive particles that dispersed into the atmosphere and could spread for kilometres away from the test sites, settling on the ground and in water supplies contaminating the environment with radioactive fallout.

The effects of these tests (especially six mounted tests undertaken at both sites) were that at present, areas of fused or ‘glazed’ sand are still contaminated with levels of plutonium which are of a high and dangerous level. The worst of these sites is at Taranaki, which was used for minor tests from 1960 until 1963, with the high levels of uranium particles and debris at the site having made the area un-inhabitable for both humans and wildlife for the next quarter of a million years .

Perhaps one of the saddest testimonies to the effects that the nuclear tests had on the environment is the health of the local Aborigine populations who from around the time tests were carried at out Maralinga have been plagued with an above average amount of cases involving illness which are caused by exposure to unsafe levels of radiation in the environment. One Aboriginal who lived near the area of some of the tests, told in a governmental enquiry that he remembered when he was a child a ‘black mist’ that occurred after one of the tests at Maralinga. The black mist caused conditions in the local Aboriginal community such as sore eyes, diarrhoea and general sicknesses, which are common signs of exposure to unsafe levels of radioactive materials ………..

The impact of nuclear testing on the Australian environment | Blog About All

February 16, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | 1 | aboriginal, antinuclear, Australia, indigenous, Maralinga, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear weapons, radioactive