Antinuclear

Liz Tynan on the secret history of Maralinga

ABC Conversations interview: Liz Tynan on the secret history of Maralinga British nuclear testing on Australian ground: cover-ups, aftershocks and contamination. Dr Liz Tynan is a science writer, and senior lecturer at the James Cook University Graduate Research School.

In the 1950s and 60s, Australia’s then Prime Minister, Robert Menzies, agreed to provide land and support to the British nuclear test program.

At Maralinga in South Australia, the British exploded seven mushroom cloud bombs (the ‘major trials’).By doing so, they became the world’s third nuclear power, and created some of the most contaminated land on the planet.

Elements of the program were shrouded in secrecy. Prior to 1978, most people had never heard of Maralinga.

Then whistle-blowers and journalists began to expose the extent of the environmental and human costs of the program.

Listen now or download podcast at: http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2016/08/09/4515140.htm (49min 21sec audio.)

August 15, 2016 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Audiovisual