Australia’s Atomic Past

What is it about?

The history of Australia's atomic weapons testing in the 1950s and 1960s bedevils contemporary policy debates over uranium mining and the possibilities of building nuclear power generators. This article shows how excessive secrecy surrounding the tests, and the little regard for the welfare of participants, including Indigenous Australians have enduring impact. Revelations about the tests, especially in the 1980s, continue to circulate as easily-accessed memories of a traumatic and unjust episode in Australian history, rendering contemporary policy debate on all nuclear matters very difficult.

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