Operation Totem

Totem
Pyramid-shaped stone marker. One side reads: "Test site Totem 1. A British atomic weapons was test exploded here on 15 Oct 1953." The other side reads: "Warning: radiation hazard. Radiation levels a few hundred metres around this point may be above those considered safe for permanent occupation."
Obelisk at the Totem 1 test site
Information
CountryUnited Kingdom
Test siteEmu Field, South Australia, Australia
Period15–27 October 1953
Number of tests2
Test typetower
Max. yield10 kilotonnes of TNT (42 TJ)
Test series chronology

Operation Totem was a pair of British atmospheric nuclear tests which took place at Emu Field in South Australia in October 1953. They followed the Operation Hurricane test of the first British atomic bomb, which had taken place at the Montebello Islands a year previously. The main purpose of the trial was to determine the acceptable limit on the amount of plutonium-240 which could be present in a bomb.

In addition to the two main tests, there was a series of five subcritical tests called "Kittens". These did not produce nuclear explosions, but used conventional explosives, polonium-210, beryllium and natural uranium to investigate the performance of neutron initiators.