Operation Grapple with the American Manhattan Project in August 1943. Many of Britain's top scientists participated in the British contribution to the Manhattan Project. After the war, fearing that Britain would lose its great power status, the British government resumed the atomic bomb development effort, now codenamed High Explosive Research. The successful test of an atomic bomb in Operation Hurricane in October 1952 represented an extraordinary scientific and technological achievement, but Britain was still several years behind the United States in nuclear weapons technology. In July 1954, the Cabinet decided to develop the hydrogen bomb. The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority Atomic
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