Maralinga - SA

England needed large uninhabited tracts of land well away from the prying eyes of Russia and where else but Australia could fulfil these requirements. With the development of the Woomera Rocket Range, Emu was to become the location for the first 2 Nuclear Bombs to be exploded on the Australian Mainland. As ideal as this location was, its remoteness made the logistics of transporting material into Emu or as it was first known, Project X200, very difficult. This made Britain search for a location that would still be remote, but where equipment could be delivered more easily, quickly and reliably.

Such a location was found only a short distance north of the Transcontinental Railway Line. The new location for Project X300 was found and recommended and on the 17th October 1953, the site was inspected from the air by Sir William Penney, Britain’s chief nuclear scientist who gave it the green light. By late 1954 a new township had sprung up and the town was given the name of Maralinga, a word taken from the local Aboriginal people that roughly translates to “Thunder”. This new town was not going to be a short term affair. Plans were set in place for the long term testing of nuclear bombs and devices for a period of 30 years.
By 1956 the first Nuclear Bomb was detonated as part of the Buffalo Series of testing, but by 1958 the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament was well under way with over 5000 people attending the first public meeting in February 1958. The CND became the biggest peace and anti-nuclear movement in the United Kingdom. Had these historic events not taken place, the total number of 7 nuclear tests that took place at Maralinga could have ended up in the hundreds.