British nuclear testing in the United States would be foregone, and the Americans were under no obligation to make the test site available for subsequent tests. Also, as Lord Cherwell noted, an American test meant that "in the lamentable event of the bomb failing to detonate, we should look very foolish indeed." In the end, Monte Bello was chosen, and the first British atomic bomb was tested there in Operation Hurricane on 3 October 1952. The next British test series, Operation Totem, was conducted at Emu Field in South Australia, but at their conclusion, the British government formally requested a permanent testing site from the Australian government,
Emu Field, South Australia Emu Field, South Australia Emu Field is located in the desert of South Australia, at (ground zero Totem 1 test). Variously known as Emu Field, Emu Junction or Emu, it was the site of the Operation Totem pair of nuclear tests conducted by the British government in October 1953. The site was surveyed by Len Beadell in 1952. A village and airstrip were constructed for the subsequent testing program. Two British atomic tests were conducted at the site. "Totem 1" was detonated on 15 October 1953 and "Totem 2" was detonated on 27 October 1953. The devices were both sited