Christmas Island Nuclear Test Site

Members who served with christmas island british nuclear tests.

Christmas island nuclear test site. Welcome to forces reunited the place where you can find information and friends from christmas island british nuclear tests. This test series was scheduled quickly in order to respond in kind to the soviet resumption of testing after the tacit 1958 1961 test moratorium. They came to australia and lied to the australians. Operation grapple was a set of four british nuclear weapons test series of early atomic bombs and hydrogen bombs carried out in 1957 and 1958 at malden island and kiritimati christmas island in the gilbert and ellice islands in the pacific ocean modern kiribati as part of the british hydrogen bomb programme nine nuclear explosions were initiated culminating in the united kingdom becoming.

British authorities initially used the nevada test site in the us for preliminary nuclear testing. In 1957 the british military began conducting nuclear tests in the pacific ocean and based themselves on christmas island. The us which carried out nuclear tests alongside british forces on christmas island and elsewhere has set aside 80 million to provide health care and assistance to its nuclear veterans. On 8 november 1957 the united kingdom carried out its first thermonuclear test codenamed grapple x it was part of the grapple nuclear test series which involved nine explosions over christmas island kiritimati and malden island in the central pacific ocean between november 1957 and september 1958.

Britain and america carried out 40 nuclear tests in the pacific. There may have been undisclosed sites of contamination on christmas islands. The tests ended six years later and parts of the island were sealed off. We are the largest and fastest growing community of uk forces veterans on the web with over 500 000 members.

Operation dominic was a series of 31 nuclear test explosions with a 38 1 mt 159 pj total yield conducted in 1962 by the united states in the pacific. British testing summary uk atmospheric nuclear tests in australia and at christmas island 1952 58. The british made such a mess that the americans kicked them out.