Comments by "Andy Dee" (@AndyViant) on "American Reacts to Maralinga Nuclear Test - 1957 (Australia)" video.

There was a movie about that event called "Ground Zero" written by a friend of mine's father. It's not a true historical film, but is based on real events. The film was released after a royal commission into the events of the British Nuclear tests and the lack of protection given to Native Australians and Australian soldiers compared to that used by the British. We were used as guinea pigs.
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Yes, the test were performed by Britain. At the time A) Britain needed the space to perform its testing and B) Australia was considering becoming a nuclear power itself. Australia signed the nuclear non proliferation treaty in 1970, having phased away from getting nukes in about 1963. We trusted that our two key allies in the USA and UK would provide that deterrent capability based on our long military alliances and ongoing friendship. We do however have one nuclear reactor, and have the technology capability to produce nuclear weapons, have delivery platforms capable of delivering nuclear weapons, and control around 1/3 of the worlds fissile material. If we want nukes, we're quite capable of developing them pretty quickly. As you may have heard this anti nuclear stance has been changing recently, which is sad but is also a consequence of current global tensions. What we've seen is that the value of a nuclear deterrent has drastically increased in recent years.
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