The US and the British Bomb

Question 1

2 Reasons why UK wanted its own project

Answer 1

to re-establish prestige and USA’s withdrawal from the Quebec Agreement in 1946

Question 2

US Atomic Energy Act (McMahon Act)

Answer 2

1946: passed to prevent any sharing of nuclear info, introduced by Senator Brien McMahon, met with disappointment from UK which tried to renew the Quebec Agreement

Question 3

British Testing Sites

Answer 3

Montebello Islands, Mainland Australia, and Pacific Islands

Question 4

British Bomb Project

Answer 4

1947: headed by William Penney, who worked in the Manhattan Project and witnessed the Trinity Test and bombings of Japan

Question 5

Operation Hurricane

Answer 5

Oct 3, 1952: 1st nuclear test, Montebello Islands, 21 kilotons, reached a million degrees, Z-shaped cloud, dispersed fallout, killed marine life, radiation-related illnesses

Question 6

Tests in Australia

Answer 6

1952-1957: Emu Field and Maralinga, 12 atmospheric tests, black clouds and mist, Indigenous ppls were exposed to radiation, after health concerns were raised, UK decided to move tests to a different region

Question 7

Testing in Pacific Islands

Answer 7

1958: carried out 9 tests in Christmas Island and Molden Island, fused sand into glass, killed animals, produced radioactive waste which was dumped into oceans

Question 8

Grapple X

Answer 8

Nov 8, 1957: 1st thermonuclear test, Christmas Island, 1.8 megatons

Question 9

Grapple Y

Answer 9

Apr 28, 1958: largest B thermonuclear explosion, Christmas Island, 2.8 megatons

Question 10

US Tests in Christmas Island

Answer 10

Sep 1961: Kennedy went to UN GA to propose nuclear disarmament and prohibition; Dec 22, 1961: B PM Harold MacMillan and Kennedy met up in Bermuda for an exchange that allowed US testing in Christmas Island while B could underground test in Nevada

Question 11

Operation Dominic

Answer 11

Apr-Jul 1962: a series of 24 atmospheric tests by USA in Christmas Island, waste was dumped into oceans or left on the island