1958 US–UK Mutual Defence Agreement as an atomic spy, caused the proposal to be dropped. The June 1951 defection of Donald Maclean, who had served as a British member of the Combined Policy Committee from January 1947 to August 1948, reinforced the Americans' distrust of British security arrangements. The first British atomic bomb was successfully tested in Operation Hurricane on 3 October 1952, but although it was more advanced than the American bombs of 1946, Britain was still several years behind in nuclear weapons technology. The United States conducted Ivy Mike, the first nuclear test of a true thermonuclear device (also known as a hydrogen
Atomic veteran represented by Association Moruroa E Tatou. The organisation has been critical of the French government's initial denial of harm, and limited commitment to compensation to total value of $13.5 million. The president of Association Moruroa E Tatou estimates that between 15,000 and 30,000 people worked on the test program, but the official number remains a national secret. Australian servicemen supported British nuclear weapons test programs at Emu Field, Maralinga, the Montebello Islands and Christmas Island during period 1952-1963. Associations representing Australian atomic veterans include the Australian Nuclear Veterans Association. and the Australian Ex-Servicemen Atomic Survivors Association. The Clarke Review of