First two UK nuclear bomb tests in South Australia: Operation Totem in 1953 at remote northwest Emu Field
A monument marks ground zero for the Totem 1 nuclear bomb test at Emu Field, in South Australia's northwest on October 15, 1953.
Emu Field, an isolated dryflat clay and sandstone expanse in the Great Victoria 480 kilometres northwest of Woomera in South Australia. was the site of two Operation Totem nuclear by the British government in October 1953.
Its Dingo Claypan made a ready airstrip and a village was set up on a site surveyed in 1952 by South Australian Len Beadell and supported by the RAAF Woomera long-range weapons complex and the Australian Army. The isolated location and poor roads meant only 500 tonnes of the 3,000 tonnes of equipment needed for the test arrived by road, the bulk arriving via the airstrip, with the project quickly constructed under Australian brigadier Leonard Lucas.
Robert Menzies’ government gave the OK for the tests to proceed but wanted to know more about possible radioactive hazards. The British wouldn’t give details about the bomb's design but gave assurances the Totem devices contained much less fissile material than the Hurricane device detonated in 1952 on Montebello Islands of the Western Australian coast.
Australian defence scientific adviser Leslie Martin was particularly concerned that balloon flights had indicated there were east and northeast winds of up to 190 km/h at between 9,100 and 12,200 metres. He was told the radioactive cloud wouldn’t reach 9,100 metres. On this basis, Martin and Ernest Titterton (from the Manhattan Project) reported to Menzies that no people, including Aboriginals, would suffer ill effects from the trials.
Totem 1 (nine kilotons) was detonated on October 15 and Totem 2 (seven kilotons) on October 27, 1953, from towers. The site also was used in September-October 1953 for some Kitten tests of conventional (not nuclear) explosions to evaluate neutron initiators. It was later found the radioactive cloud from the first detonation didn’t disperse as expected and travelled northeast over Australia. For subsequent tests, monitoring stations would be set up across Australia.
Emu Field was unsafe for further testing due to contamination by nuclear radiation and the search for another a permanent location, requested by the British government, led to the survey of Maralinga.
Maralinga wasn’t ready for the next trial, Operation Mosaic, on the Montebello Islands in May 1956 as part of developing thermonuclear weapons. The first trial at Maralinga was in September 1956, with Operation Buffalo.
