Elizabeth Tynan, ‘They Had No Business Making Those Assurances’ British Nuclear Tests in Australia

It is little remembered that in the race to produce the world’s first nuclear weapon, Britain took an early lead before changing tact to focus on assisting America’s efforts. In the immediate aftermath of World War Two, the United States shut off their wartime ally from access to the technology they had helped to create, and the United Kingdom was forced to lean on the Commonwealth to become a nuclear power. After being rebuffed by Canada, Britain settled on Australia as the site for a large number of tests that would have devastating consequences for Indigenous Australians and the environment, which were little explored by a compliant government, opposition and media captivated by the immediate imperatives of the Cold War. 

In this week’s episode of the Afternoon Light podcast, Robert Menzies Institute CEO Georgina Downer talks to Elizabeth Tynan, author of several books exploring Australia’s nuclear past and its ongoing legacy. 

Elizabeth Tynan is an Associate Professor in the Graduate Research School at James Cook University Townsville. A former science journalist, she is a prominent researcher of the history of British atomic weapons testing in Australia, which was the focus of her PhD research conducted at the Australian National University. Her book Atomic Thunder: The Maralinga Story (NewSouth 2016) won the Prime Minister's History Award and the CHASS Australia Book Prize in 2017, and her most recent book is The Secret of Emu Field: Britain’s forgotten atomic tests in Australia (NewSouth 2022).