Nuclear Bomb Testing at Maralinga | BTN High
Nuclear Bomb Testing at Maralinga | BTN High
We take a look at the history of nuclear testing in Australia to mark the 60th anniversary of the signing of the Partial Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
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Content
2.12 -> Outback Australia isn't exactly the
5.22 -> busiest place
7.2 -> but around 70 years ago there were some
10.08 -> big things happening out here and I mean
12.74 -> big
15.56 -> yeah I wasn't kidding back in the 1950s
19.32 -> and 60s there were some massive nuclear
22.199 -> tests out there see after World War II
25.26 -> in 1945 when the first nuclear weapons
27.96 -> were dropped over the Japanese cities of
29.82 -> Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the world was
32.279 -> shown the true power of nuclear everyone
34.86 -> wanted a slice of the atomic pie and so
38.219 -> started the atomic era
41.16 -> Britain was one of those nuclear-hungry
43.739 -> countries and their government needed
45.6 -> some Wide Open Spaces to develop their
48.3 -> weapons I wonder where has that
52.32 -> Bingo Australia
54.66 -> so in 1950 the British PM Clement Atlee
58.32 -> went to Aussie PM Robert Menzies and
60.48 -> said hello old chap would you mind if we
62.699 -> blow up some things in your desert you
64.739 -> know for science to which Menzies who
67.08 -> wanted to maintain a good relationship
68.7 -> said ah sure go ahead Britain conducted
72.659 -> its first three tests in the Montebello
74.88 -> islands and emu field in 1952 and 1953
79.38 -> before moving to maralinga in South
82.02 -> Australia which from 1956 became the
85.08 -> home of seven more major tests during
87.72 -> operation Buffalo and operation antler
90.119 -> and up to 600 smaller tests
93.36 -> these tests happened right up until 1963
96.78 -> when nuclear tensions around the world
98.939 -> Hit boiling point following the Cuban
101.34 -> Missile Crisis world leaders came
104.159 -> together to sign the partial Test Ban
106.439 -> Treaty which banned the testing of
108.299 -> nuclear weapons underwater in the
110.579 -> atmosphere or outer space as well as
113.22 -> pledging to work towards an end to the
115.02 -> nuclear arms race welcoming a new era of
118.2 -> World Peace
119.7 -> but while the tests ended that wasn't
122.7 -> the end of the marilinga story in fact
125.34 -> it's still going today and to understand
127.799 -> why we need to get a little scientific
135.02 -> these are nuclear weapons like the ones
138 -> tested at maralinga they contain
140.52 -> radioactive elements like uradium-235
143.34 -> and
144.44 -> plutonium-239 and when you split or mash
147.599 -> the atoms of these elements together
149.16 -> they release a lot of energy and if you
152.7 -> do that just right it equals a big bang
156.44 -> like really big
160.68 -> some of the bombs tested in marilinga
163.319 -> caused mushroom clouds that reached more
165.42 -> than 14 K's into the sky but in those
169.019 -> clouds were a whole lot of radioactive
171.66 -> particles and winds blew those particles
174.36 -> everywhere even as far as Townsville the
178.019 -> marilinga site and surrounding area was
180.3 -> blanketed with dangerous radioactive
182.7 -> material too much radiation can cause
185.7 -> major health problems including deadly
188.16 -> diseases like cancer
194.04 -> but it was out in the middle of nowhere
196.2 -> what harm could it do well a lot
199.56 -> actually
201.48 -> there were around 16
203.7 -> 000 on-site workers and many indigenous
206.28 -> people in communities around the site
208.26 -> all of whom were exposed to dangerous
210.599 -> levels of radiation in 1967 British
214.44 -> authorities tried to clean it all up but
217.44 -> in 1984 Australian scientists found they
220.14 -> hadn't done a very good job and major
222.42 -> radioactive contamination
224.58 -> was still there
226.14 -> the following year the Aussie government
228.06 -> launched a royal commission into the
230.159 -> tests and it found that very little
232.14 -> effort was put into protection and
234.239 -> monitoring radiation levels traditional
236.76 -> owners were also not asked for
238.56 -> permission to use the land and many
240.659 -> Aboriginal people weren't warned of the
242.76 -> danger or removed from the area leaving
245.099 -> them exposed to radioactive fallout
247.5 -> which they called the black mist it led
250.86 -> to another massive cleanup effort
253.019 -> costing around 101 million dollars and
256.859 -> 13.5 million dollars in compensation for
260.04 -> the indigenous people of maralinga all
262.8 -> of that didn't stop the long-term
264.6 -> effects though veterans and indigenous
267.06 -> people of the area suffer higher cancer
269.4 -> rates than the rest of the population
271.139 -> and many have ended up getting really
273.78 -> sick and dying 2012 and 2013 saw huge
278.4 -> class action lawsuits spearheaded by
280.68 -> British and Aussie veterans against
282.66 -> their governments saying their human
284.699 -> rights were violated I love this company
287.28 -> I shared this company and now I feel
289.74 -> I've been abandoned by the country
291.12 -> there's no doubt in my mind that the
293.22 -> side it's working on the experience knew
295.139 -> the risks to us but they chose not to
297.66 -> tell us the truth their argument was
300.18 -> shut down though as the UK Supreme Court
302.639 -> ruled that too much time had passed for
304.919 -> them to prove that their illnesses were
306.78 -> caused by the testing in 2017 the
309.96 -> Australian government agreed to provide
311.759 -> better health care for both veterans and
314.04 -> indigenous people of maralinga and today
316.86 -> most of the site has been cleaned to a
319.259 -> standard safe enough for people to go
321.12 -> visit but some areas still contaminated
323.88 -> with plutonium-239 won't be habitable
326.82 -> for more than 24
329.039 -> 000 years so while the maralinga nuclear
332.58 -> tests disappear into the pages of
334.5 -> History their sex will live on Long into
337.38 -> the future
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoUCpbPabVs