Nuclear issues
The following clips have teachers’ notes related to this topic:
The mine in the jungle
The Chauvels have gained entrance to one of the well-guarded secrets of 1950s Australia: Rum Jungle, a uranium mine said to be the richest in the world.
Uranium supply a moral obligation
The then South Australian Minister for Mines and Energy, Roger Goldsworthy, says that Australia has a moral obligation to supply energy to the world. Arthur Baillie, a barman from Radium Hill, recalls the days of …
Power of the atom
In the mid 1950s above ground atomic tests are carried out in South Australia. The bomb is dropped by aircraft and the blast is seen. Various people recall the tests including RAAF driver Ric Johnston …
Inhaling depleted uranium
Dr Doug Rokke, retired from the US airforce, was sent to clean up the residue of the depleted uranium used in weapons in the first Gulf War. He inhaled uranium and is now dying. He …
Talisman Sabre
The clip details the relationship between Australia and the US regarding weapons testing. A 20-year memorandum of understanding signed between the US and Australia in 2005 allows the two countries to carry out exercises in …
Safe uranium mining
We see the location of the proposed mine, and a description of the proposed new road, followed by shots of demonstrators against the mine. Phillip Shirvington, CEO of Energy Resources of Australia, the mining company …
Canvas city begins to take shape
The aims of the Operation Blowdown test are set out and the troops clear a site in the Cape York rainforest for the location of the test team.
Codenamed Marcoo
The explosion of Marcoo, one of the four nuclear fission bombs tested at Maralinga between September and October 1956.
‘A warning to the world’
Wilfred Burchett was the first journalist to report from the site of atomic devastation at Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945. He labelled the effect on human beings as 'atomic plague’. Archival footage shows victims being treated …
Uranium blockade
Anti-uranium mining protestors block the road access to Jabiluka in the Northern Territory. The mining company issues trespass notices and the NT police clear the road, making several arrests.
