Maralinga

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Maralinga
State : AustraliaAustralia Australia
State : Flag of South Australia.svg South Australia
Coordinates : 30 ° 12 ′  S , 131 ° 35 ′  E Coordinates: 30 ° 12 ′  S , 131 ° 35 ′  E
Area : 168,955.8  km²
Residents : 52 (2016)
Population density : 0.0003 inhabitants per km²
Time zone : ACST (UTC + 9: 30)
Maralinga (South Australia)
Maralinga
Maralinga

Maralinga , in the native language of the land of thunder , is an area in the western part of the Australian state of South Australia in the Nullarbor Desert . It is about 1000 km northwest of Adelaide . The local Aboriginal tribe , who belong to the Pitjantjatjara , also call themselves Maralinga.

Nuclear weapons tests

The area that belongs to the Woomera Prohibited Area became known because it was made available to the British military for nuclear weapon tests in the 1950s . First two experiments were carried out in 1953 in Emu, further north, then the decision was made to move to the more accessible Maralinga area. A military base was established under the name Maralinga Village, which served as accommodation for up to 2000 soldiers and military personnel. Seven large nuclear weapons tests and hundreds of smaller tests were carried out in the Maralinga Forward Area between 1955 and 1963. A total of 22 kg of radioactive plutonium were released in the test area by explosions .

The test series

  • Operation Totem (1953):
  1. October 15, 1953: "Totem 1" , 9 kt (explosive force in kilotons of TNT)
  2. Oct. 27, 1953: "Totem 2" , 7 kt

The two largest series of tests were:

  • Operation Buffalo (1956)
  1. 27 Sep 1956: "One Tree" , 15 kt (explosive force in kilotons of TNT)
  2.   Oct. 4, 1956: "Marcoo" , 1.5 ct
  3. October 11, 1956: "Kite" , 3 kt
  4. October 22, 1956: "Breakaway" , 10 kt
  • Operation Antler (1957)
  1. Sep 14 1957: "Tadje" , 1 ct
  2. 25 Sep 1957: "Biak" , 6 kt
  3.   October 9, 1957: "Taranaki" , 27 kt

aftermath

The test systems were dismantled and concreted in as late as the 1980s. The contaminated soil was dug up.

In addition to British soldiers, 9,000 Australians were also involved in the test, some just 1.6 kilometers from the explosion. A government report from 1983 found that not a single Australian was harmed by the nuclear tests.

When the Maralinga and Yalata Aborigines were assigned an 80,000 km² area in the Maralinga Tjarutja Land Rights Act in the 1980s, the 3,126 km² land around Maralinga Village and Forward Area contained therein was excluded. Also known as Section 400, the property remained owned by the Australian state. According to the Land Rights Act, this area was supposed to fall back to the indigenous people, but in the 1980s there were significant long-term effects of exposure to ionizing radiation both among Aborigines and the military who were employed there. In 1985 the McClelland Royal Commission dealt with the consequences of British nuclear tests. An examination of the area showed that the contamination was far too high , so that the area was cleaned up again in the mid-1990s. This time the contaminated layers of earth were completely removed and sunk and covered in deep trenches. The work lasted through April 2000 and cost 108 million Australian dollars.

The indigenous people in the Maralinga area received a flat rate of 11 million euros.

Since then there have been negotiations about the return of the area to the descendants of the previous residents. Maralinga Village is to be converted into a tourist accommodation. It has been uninhabited since the purge - apart from a married couple who oversee the facility.

Maralinga meteorite

Millions of years ago, about 35 kilometers from Maralinga, fell the Maralinga meteorite , which was found in 1974 but was not recognized as a meteorite until 1989 .

literature

  • Gerhard Leitner: The Aborigines of Australia . S. 37, Beck, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-406-50889-8 .

swell

  1. ↑ Australian Bureau of Statistics : Maralinga Tjarutja ( English ) In: 2016 Census QuickStats . June 27, 2017. Retrieved April 8, 2020.
  2. ↑ Key events in the UK atmospheric nuclear test program ( English , PDF) UK Ministry of Defense. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012. Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Retrieved June 27, 2009. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.mod.uk
  3. ↑ Operation Totem - 1953 ( English ) In: Atomic Forum - An illustrated history of nuclear weapons . Archived from the original on January 5, 2009. Retrieved January 5, 2009.
  4. ↑ a b Rehabilitation of Former Nuclear Test Sites at Emu and Maralinga (Australia) 2003 ( English ) Maralinga Rehabilitation Technical Advisory Committee, Department of Education, Science and Training. 2002. Archived from the original on December 19, 2013. Retrieved December 18, 2013.
  5. ↑ Operation Buffalo - 1956 ( English ) In: Atomic Forum - An illustrated history of nuclear weapons . Archived from the original on January 5, 2009. Retrieved January 5, 2009.
  6. ↑ Australia: Black Cloud. (No longer available online.) Der Spiegel, June 11, 1984, formerly in the original ; Retrieved August 9, 2014 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Dead Link / www.spiegel.de  
  7. ↑ Text Maralinga Tjarutja Land Rights Act ( Memento of the original from May 15, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (PDF; 142 kB) @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.legislation.sa.gov.au
  8. ↑ Rüdiger Falksohn: Australia: "Fields of Thunder". Der Spiegel, December 31, 2012, accessed on August 9, 2014 .

Web links