Operation Totem km north west of Woomera, South Australia. A natural claypan known as the Dingo Claypan provided a ready-made airstrip. In August 1952, Sir William Penney, the Chief Superintendent Armament Research (CSAR) at the British Ministry of Supply, and the head of the British atomic weapon development effort, notified W. A. S. Butement, the Chief Scientist at the Australian Department of Supply, of his intention to visit the site before the Hurricane test. Butement warned Penney that it was very remote, and that Beadell and his companions might well have been the first non-Aboriginal people to see the area. Sir John
Operation Tumbler–Snapper Operation Tumbler–Snapper Operation Tumbler–Snapper was a series of atomic tests conducted by the United States in early 1952 at the Nevada Test Site. The "Tumbler-Snapper" series of tests followed "Operation Buster-Jangle", and preceded "Operation Ivy". The "Tumbler" phase, sponsored by the Atomic Energy Commission consisted of three airdrops which were intended to help explain discrepancies in the actual and estimated blast shock wave damage noted on previous detonations, and to establish more accurately the optimum height of burst. The "Snapper" phase, sponsored by the Department of Defense consisted of one airdrop and four tower shots intended to test various new