00:04This is a picture of a mushroom cloud from a nuclear bomb test that occurred in Australia
00:08nearly 60 years ago. But according to new research, tests that occurred in the outback
00:13way back when could be contaminating the blast area and beyond even today. Nine bombs were
00:19detonated in Australia's outback between 1952 and 1963. But there were other subcritical tests
00:25that were aimed at looking at safety measures for bombs as well. Just one of these tests,
00:29called the Vixen B trials, resulted in nearly 50 pounds of plutonium and nearly 90 pounds of
00:34uranium being spread across the area. Experts first realized the contamination back in 1984.
00:39But even today, tiny hot particles or residual almost sand-sized bits of uranium and plutonium
00:45are still scattered across the landscape, which actually isn't that surprising. That brand of
00:49plutonium has a half-life of 24,100 years, meaning for 24,100 years, there will be bits of plutonium
00:56totaling a weight of nearly two Nagasaki detonations allowed to release radioactivity into Australia's
01:02lands, which researchers from Monash University discovered the radiation released from those
01:06particles may not only have affected the immediate area, but have also found their way into dust
01:11and even rainwater, allowing the radioactive particles to travel great distances and continue
01:15to spread their DNA destructive properties.
Comments