None of the British tests adequately considered the presence of the A nangu Pitjantjatjara people, especially the greater risk of radiation exposure faced by families living on country. Some resulted in mushroom clouds reaching heights of 47,000 feet (14,325 metres), and radioactive fallout blown by wind was detected as far away as Townsville.

Britain conducted 12 major trials of nuclear devices across the three sites. On 27 September 1956 Britain conducted its first test at Maralinga. Although two tests were carried out there in October 1953, the remoteness of this site prompted Britain to request a new site at Maralinga, closer to the Trans-Australian Railway. Soon after, Britain received Australian Government permission to conduct land-based tests at Emu Field, South Australia. On 3 October 1952 Britain conducted its first nuclear weapon trial on the Montebello Islands off the Western Australian coast. Menzies, who was eager to maintain strong links with Britain, agreed. In 1950 Britain’s Prime Minister Clement Attlee approached his Australian counterpart, Robert Menzies, to seek his agreement to test a British weapon on Australian territory. When the devastating effects of atomic weapons were revealed by the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, the Soviet Union and Great Britain accelerated the development of their own nuclear capabilities. Atomic blast during Operation Buffalo nuclear tests, Maralinga, South Australia

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