Atomic Thunder

by Elizabeth Tynan

  Toohey, Brian & Wilkinson, Marian, The Book of Leaks: Exposés in Defence of the Public’s Right to Know, Angus and Robertson, North Ryde, 1987.

  Uren, Tom, Straight Left, Vintage, Milsons Point, 1995.

  ‘The usual four guard the plutonium’, SMH, 7 October 1978, p. 1.

  Walsh, Peter, statement, Senate, 4 May 1984, reproduced in Australian Foreign Affairs Record, vol. 55, no. 5, May 1984, p. 486.

  Walsh, Peter, media release, 15 May 1984, reproduced in Australian Foreign Affairs Record, vol. 55, no. 5, May 1984, p. 547.

  Walsh, Peter, statement, Senate, 7 June 1984, reproduced in Australian Foreign Affairs Record, vol. 55, no. 6, June 1984, p. 636.

  Walsh, Peter, media release, 5 July 1984, reproduced in Australian Foreign Affairs Record, vol. 55, no. 7, July 1984, p. 732.

  Walsh, Peter, Confessions of a Failed Finance Minister, Random House Australia, Milsons Point, 1995.

  Williams, Geoff, ARPANSA, personal correspondence with author, 27 July 2010.

  Woodward, Lindy, ‘Buffalo Bill and the Maralingerers’, New Journalist, no. 43, 1984, p. 18.

  11 THE ROLLER COASTER INVESTIGATION

  ABC News South Australia, 12 June 1993, various bulletins.

  Anderson, Ian, ‘Australia counts the cost of Maralinga cleanup’, New Scientist, 17 November 1990.

  Anderson, Ian, interview with unknown interviewee (ministerial staffer), 1993 (exact date unknown), Anderson files.

  Anderson, Ian, interview on Daybreak Show, June 1993, Anderson files.

  Anderson, Ian, interview on Tony Delroy’s late night show, ABC Radio National, 10 June 1993, Anderson files.

  Anderson, Ian, ‘Britain’s dirty deeds at Maralinga’, New Scientist, 12 June 1993, p. 13.

  Anderson, Ian, commentary on The Science Show (host Robyn Williams), ABC Radio National, 12 June 1993, Anderson files.

  Anderson, Ian, statement in support of application for a Michael Daley award, 29 September 1993, Anderson files.

  Armitage, Catherine, ‘Dead zone’, SMH, 10 June 1993.

  Arnold, Lorna & Smith, Mark, Britain, Australia and the Bomb: The Nuclear Tests and Their Aftermath, 2nd edn, Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2006.

  Burns, Peter & Williams, Geoff, tape recording of interview with Ian Anderson, 1993 (exact date unknown), Anderson files.

  Burns, Peter & Williams, Geoff, interview with author, ARPANSA, Melbourne, 15 April 2004.

  Davoren, Patrick, personal correspondence with author, 13 May 2004.

  Department of Education, Science and Training, ‘Rehabilitation of Former Nuclear Tests Sites at Emu and Maralinga (Australia) 2003’ (MARTAC Report), Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, 2002.

  Hamilton, Archie, House of Commons, Debates, vol. 222, 1 April 1993, cc. 650–651, . Accessed 23 March 2016.

  John, Daniel & Black, Ian, ‘Nuclear clean-up settlement near’, Guardian, 18 June 1993, p. 14.

  Jones, Philip, ‘Ian Anderson: journalist who exposed Britain’s dirty nuclear deeds in Australia’, Guardian, 5 April 2000.

  MARTAC Report, see Department of Education, Science and Training.

  Moroney, John, letter to Patrick Davoren, 28 November 1991.

  Moroney, John, ‘Aide Memoire on the Nuclear Tests in Australia in the Context of the British Weapons Development Program’, unpublished briefing document, ARL, 24 December 1992.

  Moroney, John, annotated draft of Ian Anderson’s New Scientist story, unpublished, 2 June 1993, Anderson files.

  Moroney, John, ‘Statement on the Disagreement in the Plutonium Data at Maralinga in the Discussion with the Australian Editor of New Scientist’, briefing for Geoff Williams & Pat Davoren, 3 June 1993.

  New Scientist editorial comment, 12 June 1993, p. 3.

  O’Shea, Darcy, ‘Maralinga: righting the wrongs’, Habitat Australia, vol. 19, no. 3, June 1991, p. 22.

  ‘Rehabilitation of the former nuclear tests sites at Maralinga and Emu’, in Annual Report of the Chief Executive Officer of ARPANSA, 1998–1999, ARPANSA, Melbourne, 1999, pp. 35–38.

  Royal Commission into British Nuclear Tests in Australia, Report (JR McClelland, President), 2 vols, AGPS, Canberra, 1985.

  The Science Show (host Robyn Williams), ABC Radio National, 29 November 1997.

  Stenberg, Maryann, ‘Tests show a wider Maralinga cover-up’, The Age, 11 June 1993.

  Thorn, Robert N & Westervelt, Donald R, ‘Hydronuclear Experiments’, report for Los Alamos National Laboratories, LA-10902-MS, February 1987.

  Thwaites, Tim, ‘Ian Anderson: the end of an era’, New Scientist, 25 March 2000.

  Webb, Jeremy, New Scientist, personal correspondence with author, 25 May 2004.

  12 THE REMAINS OF MARALINGA

  Arvanitakis, James, ‘Staging Maralinga and looking for community (or why we must desire community before we can find it)’, Research in Drama Education, vol. 13, no. 3, pp. 295–306.

  AWTSC, minutes of 19th meeting, Commonwealth X-Ray and Radium Laboratory, Melbourne, 11 June 1957, NAA: A6456, R120/137 PART 1.

  Barnaby, Frank, ‘The management of radioactive wastes and the disposal of plutonium’, paper at Medical Association for Prevention of War Conference, 2000.

  Brown, Paul, ‘British nuclear testing in Australia: performing the Maralinga experiment through verbatim theatre’, Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, vol. 139, 2006.

  Clarke QC, John, ‘British atomic tests’, in Department of Veteran Affairs, Review of Veterans’ Entitlements, Canberra, 6 January 2003, Chapter 16.

  Cross, Roger & Hudson, Avon, Beyond Belief: The British Bomb Tests; Australia’s Veterans Speak Out, Wakefield Press, Kent Town, 2005.

  Department of Education, Science and Training, ‘Rehabilitation of Former Nuclear Tests Sites at Emu and Maralinga (Australia) 2003’ (MARTAC Report), Commonwealth of Australia, Canberra, 2002.

  Gellman, B, ‘Edward Snowden, after months of NSA revelations, says his mission’s Aaccomplished’, Washington Post, 23 December 2013.

  James, Colin & Maiden, Samantha, ‘Secret atomic child files opened’, Advertiser, 5 September 2001.

  Jean, Peter, ‘Aborigines now control ex-nuke site for tourism’, Advertiser, 4 June 2014.

  Keane, John, ‘Maralinga’s afterlife’, The Age, 11 May 2003.

  ‘Maralinga lament’, Australian Nexus, . Accessed 22 November 2015.

  Maralinga Tours, . Accessed 22 November 2015.

  MARTAC Report, see Department of Education, Science and Training.

  Moroney, John, letter to Ernest Titterton, 19 August 1966, NAA: A6456, R120/111.

  Moroney, John, letter to WJ Gibbs, Bureau of Meteorology, 26 August 1966, NAA: A6456, R120/111.

  Nuclear Futures, . Accessed 22 November 2015.

  Parkinson, Alan, ‘The Maralinga rehabilitation project: final report’, Journal of Medicine, Conflict and Survival, vol. 20, 2004.

  Pearce, Noah, letter to John Moroney, 9 August 1966, NAA: A6456, R120/111.

  Rankin, Scott, ‘Ngapartji Ngapartji’, in Namatjira / Ngapartji Ngapartji, Currency Press, Sydney, 2012.

  Rankin, Scott, ‘Ngapartji Ngapartji’, Wikipedia, . Accessed 26 March 2016.

  Spinardi, Graham, ‘Aldermaston and British nuclear weapons development: testing the “Zuckerman thesis”’, Social Studies of Science, vol. 27, no. 4, 1997, pp. 547–582.

  Titterton, EW, letter to John Moroney, 23 August 1966, NAA: A6456, R120/111.

  Tooke, Thomas Frederick, Royal Commission, 31 October – 13 November 1984, NAA: A6448, 5.

  Tooke, Thomas Frederick, statement, Royal Commission, 1984–1985, NAA: A6450, 5 (T–Z).

  Walker, Frank, Maralinga: The Chilling Exposé of Our Secret Nuclear Shame and Betrayal of Our Troops and Country, Hachette Australia, Sydney, 2014.


  WikiLeaks, ‘How Britain got the bomb: Britain’s “Oppenheimer”, William G. Penney and his secret report on what Britain needed to do to “get the bomb”’, . Accessed 19 November 2015.

  Woollett, SM, ‘Rehabilitating Maralinga’, Clean Air and Environmental Quality, vol. 37, issue 4, November 2003.

  APPENDIX

  Royal Commission into British Nuclear Tests in Australia, Report (JR McClelland, President), vol. 2, AGPS, Canberra, 1985, Appendix G, Chronology, pp. vii–1 to vii–10.

  GLOSSARY

  NTD Resource Center, ‘Stochastic effects’, . Accessed 27 March 2016.

  Royal Commission into British Nuclear Tests in Australia, Report (JR McClelland, President), vol. 2, AGPS, Canberra, 1985, pp. II–1 to II–9.

  Symonds, JL, A History of British Atomic Tests in Australia, AGPS, Canberra, 1985, pp. 585–593.

  Bibliography

  A note about sources

  Most of my primary sources have come from the National Archives of Australia (NAA), the National Library of Australia and the National Archives of the United Kingdom (Kew). However, I have also been fortunate to have access to other equally crucial forms of primary material as well. The late New Scientist journalist Ian Anderson kept extensive files, including audio recordings. I was granted access to some of these early in my PhD study, and have used several of them in this book. In addition, Dr Geoff Williams at ARPANSA gave me access to previously unpublished material from his late colleague John Moroney, particularly related to the Roller Coaster investigation and his side of the 1993 New Scientist story. Also, the former Canberra Times journalist Paul Malone received numerous files from government departments, notably the Department of Defence and the Department of Supply, under an accelerated document release program in the 1980s. Paul generously gave me access to these files, which do not have NAA numbers. The same files may well have found their way to the NAA, but I have used the unnumbered files provided by Paul. I note these particular files in the relevant parts of the bibliographical details.

  MEDIA REPORTS

  Authors named

  Anderson, Ian, ‘Australia counts the cost of Maralinga cleanup’, New Scientist, 17 November 1990.

  Anderson, Ian, ‘Britain’s dirty deeds at Maralinga’, New Scientist, 12 June 1993, pp. 12–13.

  Anderson, Ian, commentary on The Science Show (host Robyn Williams), ABC Radio National, 12 June 1993, Anderson files.

  Armitage, Catherine, ‘Dead zone’, Sydney Morning Herald (SMH), 10 June 1993.

  Baker, Candida, ‘A new eye focuses on the rich and powerful’, The Age, 15 August 1987, p. 3.

  Ball, Robert, ‘A “devil spirit” that didn’t go’, Advertiser, 3 May 1980, p. 1.

  Bayly, Brett, ‘Killen orders enquiry into Maralinga’, Advertiser, 10 December 1976, p. 1.

  Beale, Howard, ‘Why Australia provides the site for atomic tests’, SMH, 13 August 1956, p. 2.

  Beale, Howard, quoted in ‘Plutonium scare “ridiculous”’, SMH, 11 October 1978, p. 2.

  Borshmann, Gregg, ‘Maralinga: the fall out continues’, Background Briefing, ABC Radio National, 16 April 2000.

  Bowers, Peter, ‘Maralinga’s plutonium mystery becomes even deeper: who left nuclear lump at the site?’, SMH, 7 October 1978, p. 4.

  Bowers, Peter, ‘British team to check atom dump’, SMH, 11 October 1978, p. 1.

  Bowers, Peter, ‘The real mystery of Maralinga’, SMH, 16 October 1978, p. 7.

  Colless, Malcolm, ‘Govt acts over N-waste safety: Killen loses nuclear role’, The Australian, 10 November 1978, p. 1.

  Colless, Malcolm, ‘“Take it back” requests ignored: British snub on plutonium plea’, The Australian, 16 November 1978, p. 1.

  Connor, Steve, ‘WA atom blast was far bigger, UK says’, SMH, 26 May 1984, p. 3.

  Dean, Anabel, ‘First win for Maralinga victim and hope for others’, SMH, 23 December 1988, p. 3.

  English, David & De Ionno, Peter, ‘New claims of A-test link with cancer’, Advertiser, 17 April 1980, p. 1.

  English, David & De Ionno, Peter, ‘SA atom tests: was cost too high?’, Advertiser, 18 April 1980, p. 9.

  Gellman, B, ‘Edward Snowden, after months of NSA revelations, says his mission’s accomplished’, Washington Post, 23 December 2013.

  Hailstone, Barry, ‘Expert calls for enquiry into radioactive waste’, Advertiser, 9 December 1976, p. 1.

  James, Colin & Maiden, Samantha, ‘Secret atomic child files opened’, Advertiser, 5 September 2001.

  Jean, Peter, ‘Aborigines now control ex-nuke site for tourism’, Advertiser, 4 June 2014.

  John, Daniel & Black, Ian, ‘Nuclear clean-up settlement near’, Guardian, 18 June 1993, p. 14.

  Jones, Philip, ‘Ian Anderson: journalist who exposed Britain’s dirty nuclear deeds in Australia’, Guardian, 5 April 2000.

  Jory, Rex, ‘3 government reports now confirm … plutonium buried at Maralinga’, The News, 17 December 1976, p. 1.

  Keane, John, ‘Maralinga’s afterlife’, The Age, 11 May 2003.

  Kruger, Andrew, ‘Britain asked to take atomic waste’, SMH, 10 October 1978, p. 1.

  Kruger, Andrew, ‘Full story not told on waste – Hayden’, SMH, 13 October 1978, p. 13.

  MacCallum, Mungo, ‘Labor’s Maralinga attack very non-nuclear’, Australian Financial Review, 11 October 1978, p. 4.

  MacCallum, Mungo, ‘Killen throws a Maralinga bomb – with fallout’, Australian Financial Review, 12 October 1978, p. 4.

  MacCallum, Mungo, ‘Toohey: making red faces in high places’, West Australian, 2 September 1989, p. 9.

  Malone, Paul & Conkey, Howard, ‘Confusion on contamination: radiation too high at Maralinga site’, Canberra Times, 30 September 1984, p. 12.

  Moore, Daniel, ‘30 years on: Britain agrees to pay its Maralinga victims’, SMH, 4 April 1988, p. 1.

  Morgan, Sue, ‘Britain’s star witness sheds little light’, SMH, 2 February 1985, p. 12.

  Morgan, Sue, ‘Titterton was “a British plant”’, SMH, 6 December 1985, p. 1.

  Morgan, Sue & Casey, Andrew, ‘Atomic tests report urges compensation and multimillion-dollar clean-up: Thatcher set to tough it out’, SMH, 6 December 1985, p. 1.

  Nason, David, ‘Owners to reclaim Maralinga bomb site’, The Australian, 10 November 2009, p. 7.

  Ophel, TR, ‘Sir Ernest William Titterton’, Obituary, ANU Reporter, 23 February 1990, p. 4.

  O’Shea, Darcy, ‘Maralinga: righting the wrongs’, Habitat Australia, vol. 19, no. 3, June 1991, p. 22.

  Pincher, Chapman, ‘Could be dropped by R.A.F. plane’, SMH, 16 October 1953, p. 1.

  Pincher, Chapman, quoted in ‘Views from the past’, sidebar story attached to David English & Peter De Ionno, ‘Fall-out blankets a sleeping city’, Advertiser, 17 April 1980, p. 10.

  Porter, David, ‘Atomic bomb lessons in the desert’, SMH, 22 June 1988, p. 2.

  The Science Show (host Robyn Williams), ABC Radio National, 29 November 1997.

  Stanton, John, ‘Plutonium dumps a risk “for thousands of years”’, The Australian, 25 May 1984, p. 2.

  Stenberg, Maryann, ‘Tests show a wider Maralinga cover-up’, The Age, 11 June 1993.

  Symons, Michael, ‘Is it Russian roulette?’, SMH, 16 June 1972, p. 7.

  Thwaites, Tim, ‘Ian Anderson: the end of an era’, New Scientist, 25 March 2000.

  Titterton, EW, ‘The race for atomic arms’, Sunday Herald, 4 October 1953, p. 2.

  Titterton, EW, ‘Answers to questions on atomic tests’, The Age, 15 May 1956, p. 2.

  Titterton, EW, ‘Some questions and answers on latest atom tests’, SMH, 15 May 1956, p. 2.

  Titterton, EW, ‘Why Australia is atom testing ground’, The Age, 16 May 1956, p. 2.

  Titterton, EW, ‘Why Australia is preferred as an atom testing ground’, SM
H, 16 May 1956, p. 2.

  Titterton, EW, ‘After atomic bomb tests … how dangerous is the mushroom cloud?’, The Age, 19 July 1956, p. 2.

  Titterton, EW, ‘The Maralinga scare’, SMH, 7 October 1978, p. 10.

  Toohey, Brian, ‘Killen warns on plutonium pile’, Australian Financial Review, 5 October 1978.

  Toohey, Brian, ‘Maralinga: the “do nothing” solution’, Australian Financial Review, 11 October 1978, pp. 1, 10, 37.

  Toohey, Brian, ‘Govt may exhume plutonium waste’, Australian Financial Review, 12 October 1978, pp. 1, 10, 14.

  Toohey, Brian, ‘Maralinga issue raises Defence Dept question’, Australian Financial Review, 13 October 1978, pp. 7, 12.

  Toohey, Brian, ‘Plutonium on the wind: the terrible legacy of Maralinga’, National Times, 4–10 May 1984, pp. 3–5.

  Woodward, Lindy, ‘Buffalo Bill and the Maralingerers’, New Journalist, no. 43, April 1984, p. 18.

  Authors unnamed

  (chronological order)

  Sydney Morning Herald editorial, 18 July 1940, reproduced in FK Crowley, Modern Australian Documents 1939–1970, vol. 2, Wren Publishing, Melbourne, 1973.

  ‘U.S. alarm at leakage of Defence secrets’, Herald (Melbourne), 8 March 1948, clippings package, NAA: A5954, 1956/6.

  ‘Atomic bomb exploded in Monte Bello Islands’, West Australian, 4 October 1952, reproduced in FK Crowley, Modern Australian Documents 1939–1970, vol. 2, Wren Publishing, Melbourne, 1973.

  ‘His responsibility!’, Daily Mirror (Sydney), 2 October 1953, p. 2.

  ‘Atom bombs in our arid lands’, Sunday Herald, 4 October 1953, p. 2.

  ‘Atomic bombs, uranium and Australia’s future’, SMH, 8 October 1953, p. 2.

  Staff Correspondent, ‘Public safety and the Woomera tests’, SMH, 9 October 1953, p. 2.

  Staff Correspondent, ‘Long-range risks in atomic tests?’, SMH, 10 October 1953, p. 2.

  ‘The atom’s challenge to humanity’, SMH, 16 October 1953, p. 2.

  A ‘Herald’ Special Reporter who watched the atomic explosion on the Woomera Range from 15 miles away, ‘Atom explosion success: dawn blast at Woomera’, SMH, 16 October 1953, p. 1.

  ‘Months of hard, lonely work paved way for atomic explosion’, SMH, 16 October 1953, p. 4.