Antinuclear

Australia’s shame: ignoring its “Black Mist” atomic radiation victims

Radiation skin burns from contact with the radioactive Black Rain among Hiroshima victims is officially recognized by the United States.
With such a long and documented history, official Australian ignorance of Beta Radiation Burn to skin as a consequence of contact with nuclear fallout has no excuse………

The Black Mist and its Aftermath, The Black Mist Incident « Paul Langley’s Nuclear History Blog, 21 April 2010, -Oral Histories by Lallie Lennon A Submission to the Government of South Australia, the Commonwealth Government of Australia and the International Atomic Energy Agency Oral Historian Michele Madigan, 2006 and 2009Transcription and Commentary by Paul Langley……
“……– Beta Radiation Burn to skin – have become widely known. The condition, one of many health effects caused by the incident, was diagnosed by American specialists such as Cronkite and has been officially acknowledged by the United States Government since that time. Radiation skin burns from contact with the radioactive Black Rain among Hiroshima victims is officially recognized by the United States. [13]
With such a long and documented history, official Australian ignorance of Beta Radiation Burn to skin as a consequence of contact with nuclear fallout has no excuse………
The Australian Black Mist
The Black Mist ground level atomic bomb cloud incident of October 1953 affected many Australians. [18] It was generated by the bomb test named Totem 1, exploded from a tower at Emu Field, South Australia, on 15 October 1953…….
Lallie Lennon and her family are primary witnesses to this Australian event. It occurred in the isolation of the Australian bush a mere 5 months prior to the Castle Bravo disaster. Unlike the later event, the Black Mist event was not covered by the press at the time. That press coverage would not commence until many years later. However, the witnesses continued to suffer, remember and report their experiences. The Black Mist was a persistent individual and cultural presence within sections of Australian society. For example see the Adelaide Advertiser, front page, Monday, May 12, 1980, “A-Test ‘Mist’ May have Killed 50”, by Robert Ball and Peter De Ionno.
In response to the persistent reports which related the horror of the Australian Black Mist incident, in 1980 Professor Titterton, Chair of the Atomic Weapons Test Safety Committee told national radio : “No such thing can possibly occur. I don’t know of any black mists. No black mists have ever been reported until the scare campaign was started. …If you investigate black mists sure you’re going to get into an area where mystique is the central feature.”…..
[20]
Despite such official denials the stories of the events of October 1953 continued. Witnesses such as Yami Lester continued to speak of what was seen and suffered as a result of the Black Mist from an atomic bomb blast.
[21] The Black Mist rolled through places occupied mainly by Aboriginal people. European Australians saw it also. For example, Mrs A. Lander, Mrs G. Giles and Mr Ernest Giles testified to the existence of the cloud. [22] Lallie Lennon
Lallie Lennon has spoken consistently for decades of how the Black Mist engulfed her family and of the suffering experienced since.
I learned of Lallie and her experiences from watching the film “Backs to the Blast, an Australian Nuclear Story”. The film had been produced and directed by Harry Bardwell in 1981. [23] In this film Lallie describes the Black Mist she saw. She shows the visible scarring on her skin which resulted from contact with the nuclear fallout……

The Black Mist Incident « Paul Langley’s Nuclear History Blog

April 21, 2010 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | aboriginal issues, AUSTRALIA - NATIONAL, uranium | aboriginal, antinuclear, Australia, nuclear, nuclear wastes, nuclear weapons, radiation, radioactive, uranium