Missiles, Spies & Plutonium Piles

1945-May Germany is defeated in World War II. Immediately, the UK, USA & USSR rush to grab the German V2 missiles & the German missile scientists. The Allies commence their own research programs in order to develop V2 type missiles.

1945-August  Japan surrenders after two primitive atomic bombs are detonated destroying Hiroshima  & Nagasaki. Immediately the USA dismisses the foreign members of the Trinity team. President Truman, on military advice, refuses to share the blueprints of either the Uranium or the Plutonium atomic bomb.

USSR officially protests USA decision over the atomic bomb & vows to build their own.

UK, Canada & Australia quietly protests the American decision not to share the secrets of the atomic bomb.

Doc Evatt of Australia becomes the United Nations first Secetary-General.

1946 The UK ambassador to the UN quietly approaches Doc Evatt about Australian involvement in a atomic bomb & missile program. He further suggested that it would be based in Australia. Evatt is excited by the idea & believes that Australia will become a world atomic power as a result.

Evatt recommends to Australian Prime Minister Ben Chifley (ALP) to agree to the UK atomic bomb & missile treaty. He stipulates that as part of the deal, Australia should be able to build & maintain its own atomic bomb arsenal. This would ensure Australia world power status on the level with the UK & France.

The Anglo-Australian Atomic treaty is signed between Australian PM Chifley & UK PM Attlee later in the year. It, however, limits Australian ownership of atomic items for only peaceful research purposes. Australia can, though, stockpile the necessary items for this research: namely uranium &/or platinum.

Numerous scientists in the Western World question outright the use of atomic bombs. These people argue that only peaceful purposes should be pursued. Among them are Arthur C. Clarke from the UK & Mark Oliphant of Australia.

Arthur C. Clarke theorises that one day "satellites" could circle the Earth & transmit messages instantly around the globe. The UK government, who has been pleased with Clarke's efforts during WW2, sends him to Australia to head up the missile testing team. He agrees, although he knows that really means weapons development. Nonetheless, he hopes his satellite idea will be the inevitable winner of missile development.

Mark Oliphant heads up the atomic research division of the newly opened Australian National University. He is one of the first atomic scientists, however, that supports the idea that the power of the atom should be used for peaceful purposes. Among his thoughts he suggests that nuclear engines could power missiles & ships in space. Regardless of Oliphant’s opinions, due to his experience with the Trinity team, he is seconded to the Anglo-Australian Atomic Agency.

1947 The Anglo-Australian Atomic Agency begins looking for a base in Australia. Several sites are selected & the land reserved by the Australian government. This becomes the world’s largest testing ground stretching from the centre of South Australia to islands off Western Australia. Several Aboriginal tribes are removed from the area, however many also stay.

1948 Woomera, in the centre of South Australia, becomes the HQ for the Anglo-Australian Atomic Agency. Laboratories, enrichment installations, munitions factories, houses, schools & so forth are built in the middle of the desert. The base is served by the largest airport to date in all of Australia. Soon thousands of scientists, military personnel & their families are stationed there. It quickly becomes South Australia’s third largest city. And all this is done in total secret.

At the missile test site, just out of Woomera, the first V2 missiles are tested. Along with their German scientists, the UK & Australians quickly develop better versions of the V2. The first plans for Blue Streak are begun.

1949 Prime Minister Chifley is defeated by the Opposition leader Robert Menzies (Liberal Party). Although Menzies is an Anglophile, he nonetheless demands full involvement with the atomic weapons project. Fundamentally he demands the right for Australia to develop, store & if need be use atomic weapons for the defence of Australia.

The UK at first refuses Menzies demands, whereupon Menzies threatens to renounce the Anglo-Australian Atomic Treaty & put a stop to all testing. Knowing that the UK is desperate to develop their own atomic bomb, negotiations commence. Although Australia does not get everything it wanted, it is permitted to obtain the blueprints for bomb construction from the joint research. Above all Australia can store weapons grade uranium &/or plutonium. Australia can only, though, construct atomic bombs if the security of the country is at risk, i.e. war.

The UK, however, demands that the Anglo-Australian Atomic Agency must become truly Commonwealth in nature. They wish to ensure that Australia will not blackmail them again.

The result is the Commonwealth of Nations Atomic Agency. The new agency will take over from the Anglo-Australian one. Canada, New Zealand & South Africa are included in the new agency. Arthur C Clarke becomes its head. Mark Oliphant becomes head of the Australian science team.

1950 The first prototype Blue Streak missile is tested at Woomera. It is a thorough success. On its maiden test flight, it travels just over 1 000km before crashing into the West Australian desert.

Oliphant approaches Clarke about the idea of the Nuclear Propulsion Engine (NPE). Clarke is excited by the idea, but reminds Oliphant that they need to get an atomic bomb functional first before any of the countries would agree to develop such a project. Oliphant protests Clarke’s decision. Although Clarke is truly sympathetic with Oliphant’s position, both reluctantly recognise the political reality.

1951 MI6, the UK’s international spy agency, manage to steal some data from the USSR atomic weapons program. This is immediately sent to the Commonwealth Agency in Woomera. Although it does not totally fill in the blanks in their bomb development, it nevertheless cuts years off the laboratory testing program.

1952 On an island off the Western Australia coast, the first Commonwealth atomic bomb is successfully detonated. Several more would take place in the Australian desert perfecting the weapon.

Several of the scientists express concern at the atomic weapons program & suggest that other avenues of research should be given priority. The politicians of all involved countries turn a deaf ear to the protests.

 1953 Oliphant approaches Clarke suggesting that a Blue Streak missile could be sent into space hot on the heels of the USA & USSR space shots. Clarke loves the idea, but cannot authorise it. Oliphant says "Well, just don’t say no". Clarke agrees, then asks "Should I know anything then?". "Nope" is Oliphant’s laconic reply.

Later in the year, a Blue Streak, in the hands of the Australian science team, malfunctions while waiting on the launch pad. The Australian contingent are concerned & halt the launch. After some delay, Clarke orders the missile be removed for further examination while the next test can go ahead. The Australians take their Blue Streak off to their part of the base for analysis. Due to the hectic pace of life in Woomera, no one notices that the missile does not return later in the year for the test to be completed.

1954 During the summer heat in February, while many of the Woomera base personnel take their leave, Australia successfully tests their first space shot. This is, of cause, thoroughly unauthorised & confusion reigns. The space shot lasted for 20 minutes as a small probe, emitting a radio signal, flew into the outer atmosphere & returns to land in the Kimberley region of Western Australia.

Clarke jokingly calls the Australians the Space Pirates. The name sticks. Furthermore, the success of the Australian space shot ensures funding from the Menzies Australian government. The British, likewise, follow with funding.

As a result, the agency becomes the Commonwealth Atomic & Space Agency.

The Petrov Affair takes place in Australia. The Australian Secret Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) removes a USSR embassy official from a plane in Darwin after he requests political asylum in Australia. Little information is made known about the lowly ranked USSR embassy staffer - except to ASIO, which knowns he is a spy. And he is not just some ordinary spy. His particular expertise is nuclear weapons.

Neither ASIO, or the Australian government, ever share this information. Petrov, after a highly detailed interrogation, supplies ASIO with much information of the UK’s nuclear program. More importantly he details how & were the UK in Australia hold their blueprints for bomb construction.

1955 The Commonwealth successfully tests its first Hydrogen bomb at Taranaki in South Australia. Again, several of the scientists, mostly Australian & New Zealanders, express their opposition to the escalation of the nuclear weapons program. These scientists, including Oliphant, only wanted to be involved with research into peaceful applications of nuclear power.

1956  Oliphant again calls on Clarke to begin actual development of the NPE. This becomes imperative, he argues, if the human race wishes to survive. He sees nothing logical in continuing a weapons program that will only led to the destruction of humanity. Clarke agrees & tentatively announces the NPE program. This placates many of the other scientists, including Oliphant, who were about to resign en masse in protest.

As Oliphant is also head of the atomic research department at the Australian National University he, along with other university staff, approach & convince Menzies of the potential of the NPE. In turn, Menzies authorises the Woomera Space Port. Building commences immediately.

Although Clarke is taken unawares by the Menzies government decision, which will cost Australia millions, he nonetheless warmly welcomes the new space port.

1957 The Woomera Space Port opens with the Commonwealth group successfully launching its first basic satellite.

Tensions between Australia & Indonesia have worsened. There have been several clashes between Indonesian & Malaysian forces in Borneo. Australia has military treaties with Malaysia & thus sends troops to help patrol the border. The UK also sends troops to support the Malayisans.

As a result of the Malaysia - Indonesian troubles Australia requests, as per the Anglo-Australian Atomic Treaty, the blueprints to construct atomic bombs. The UK, not wanting to share this information with Australia, hesitates. Menzies pushes the issue &, although believing that the UK will finally come through, authorises the immediate establishment of the Australian Atomic Commission.

The Australian Atomic Commission makes two announcements. The first is that an atomic research & medical centre will be established at Lucas Heights on the outskirts of Sydney. There will be two reactors involved. The main one is for nuclear medicines, while the other is for industry research. The other announcement involves the establishment of a nuclear power reactor at Jervis Bay in the near future.

1958-60 Construction of the Lucas Heights Atomic Centre takes place. It becomes operational in the middle 1960. Although the medical reactor is a straight copy of UK design, the research reactor is modified locally. Few take notice.

In 1960, the Cuban Missile Crisis shocks the world. The peace group involved with the Commonwealth Space & Atomic Agency all resign in protest after the UK government refuses to stop its nuclear weapons program.

The Agency is split between the UK Atomic Program & the Commonwealth Space Agency.

Secretly, Australia continues to request the UK for the blueprints to construct atomic bombs. UK finally refuses, & hypocritically cites the Cuban Missile Crisis as a reason why atomic weapons must not proliferate around the globe. In response, the Menzies government renounces the Anglo-Australian Atomic Treaty & orders a cession of nuclear weapons testing in Australia.

Arthur C Clarke becomes head of the Commonwealth Space Agency. Mark Oliphant heads its NPE program. In this tumultuous year of events, the successful testing of the Commonwealth’s NPE goes unnoticed.

1961 The Australian Secret Intelligence Agency (ASIS) conducts its first operation. As the UK nuclear weapons scientists leave Woomera for Britain,  ASIS intercepts various secret documents as their plane refuels at Cocos Islands airport. Among the documents are the blueprints of the nuclear bombs constructed in top secret at Woomera. Australia now can make its own bombs.

1962 The research reactor at Lucas Heights begins to manufacture, in secret, small quantities of weapons grade plutonium. Only a handful of people are aware of this. The information is so sensitive, that only Menzies, out of the entire Cabinet, is kept fully briefed on the Australian Bomb Project.

1963 Australia has enough plutonium to construct two bombs. Menzies, however, takes the ironic decision of keeping to Australia’s part to the defunct Anglo-Australian Atomic Treaty. The plutonium will be stockpiled until required - hopefully never.

1964 Australia announces that it will no longer require a nuclear power station built by the UK. This comes about due to a nuclear accident at York. The design of the UK nuclear power station was the same as that on consideration for Australia. Menzies, however, reaffirms his government interest to one day build a nuclear power station at Jervis Bay.

The manufacturing of Australian plutonium continues.

1965 Menzies retires as Prime Minister. There is much speculation as who will succeed him.

Many are surprised when Harold Holt (LP) becomes Australian Prime Minister - none more so than ASIO. The rather honest & peace supporting Holt is shocked when he discovers that Australia has the plans & means to build its own nuclear weapons. He considers cancelling the program.

1966 Alas, before Holt can seriously consider the future for the Australian Bomb Project, he drowns in the ocean while surfing. His death has never been fully explained & his body has never been found.

Holt is replaced by John Gorton (LP).

1967 Gorton, although not overly happy on the issue, decides nonetheless to keep the Australian Bomb Project. Secretly, he later supports the idea that Australia is a defacto nuclear world power & can ultimately defend itself with nuclear weapons. As trouble has recently flared up again in Indonesia, he needs little convincing from the military to keep the project fully functional.

1968 Gorton is replaced by William McMahon (LP) as Prime Minister. Although a supporter of Australia’s involvement in Vietnam, he pragmatically supports the anti-nuclear political camp. Upon promotion to the Prime Minister's Office, he immediately cancels the Jervis Bay nuclear power station project.

Furthermore, like Holt before him, McMahon is shocked when briefed on Australia’s nuclear capabilities. As the elections are close, however & other issues are considered more important, he defers any decision until after the forthcoming elections.

1969 The result of the federal election is close. The ALP almost wins under Gough Whitlam's leadership. It appears that the ALP, who are thoroughly opposed to the Vietnam War & nuclear weapons, may win the next elections. The military recommends to McMahon to cease plutonium production, hide the stockpile & have ASIO keep the nuclear bomb blueprints safe.

1970 The nuclear bomb blueprints are "archived" in ASIO’s headquarters in Melbourne.

No one, however, knows what to do with the plutonium stockpile. The biggest problem is detection. Both USA & USSR spy satellites could detect the stockpile if moved from Lucas Heights. To leave it at Lucas Height, however, would ensure that the ALP would find it within days of forming a government.

1971 After some careful consideration, the stockpile is moved to the old hydrogen bomb testing site at Taranaki in South Australia. The entire area is a radiation fallout restriction zone due to the bomb tests. The high background radiation should ensure discovery by spy satellites impossible. Military patrols will further ensure that the stockpile will never be discovered physically.

1972 The Whitlam ALP government is elected. Whitlam is not briefed about the Australian Bomb Project. He is, however, suspicious of previous policy on the nuclear issue. The inner Cabinet decides that the matter should be investigated, although not in an offical departmental manner

1973 Acting on an informant's advice, the Australian Attorney-General Lionel Murphy, conducts a Federal Police raid on ASIO headquarters in Melbourne. Although there had never been any hard evidence, rumours had surfaced about the Australian Atomic Bomb Project. To the media, the raid had been declared an internal matter whereby ASIO was suspected of hiding evidence against Croatian terrorists. The real reason was never mentioned - the nuclear bomb blueprints. The media fell for the cover story hook, line & sinker.

1974 After meticulously analysing the documents from the ASIO raid, the nuclear bomb blueprints are finally discovered. ASIO explains they were relics from the Menzies era & naturally such sensitive documents would be housed by ASIO. Nothing is mentioned about the plutonium stockpile. Whitlam never really believes ASIO’s explanation, but the explination is accepted for now.

1975 After not being impressed by ASIO, Whitlam reorganises the secret services. The new head of ASIS, Judge Whitmore, discovers to his astonishment the "Petrov" operation of 1954/61. Whitmore immediately informs Whitlam. It is reported that Whitlam was so furious you could hear his voice all over the Parliament Building. It appeared that ASIO’s explanation of why they had the nuclear bomb blueprints was somewhat confirmed.

Before Whitlam could do much about the Bomb Project, he was dismissed in dubious circumstances by the Governor-General John Kerr. This inevitably lead to the The Australian War of Independence (see separate entry). In all the constitutional crisis & fighting thereafter, all concern was forgotten over the nuclear bomb issue. Many documents were destroyed in the process, including all reference to the plutonium stockpile.

1976  The Australian War of Independence concludes with a victory for the new republic. Whitlam becomes first PM & Mark Oliphant becomes the first President.

Although the nuclear bomb blueprints are secured by the Prime Minister’s department, all written records to the plutonium stockpile have been lost. A select few, however, know the location.

1978 Andrew Peacock (LP) is elected the second republican PM.

1980 The Indonesian-Australian War (see separate entry) begins. The start is a debacle for the Australian Defence Force. The Indonesian invasion is so swift, that it appears that Indonesian forces could be in Adelaide within a week. Darwin has already been lost.

As part of his briefing, Peacock is reminded of the nuclear bomb blueprints that his department holds. This does not concern him as much as the second item on the briefing - that being the plutonium stockpile. Even more disconcerting was the fact that the plutonium could be in Indonesian army hands within days.

The Australian Army is order to stop the Indonesian army at any cost. This it successfully achieves at Katherine.

Peacock’s  second order is to find & remove the plutonium stockpile from the South Australian desert. This takes place in a hurried pace bordering on panic. It is brought to Lucas Heights. A French spy satellite is overhead & a clear plutonium spike is identified. This goes unexplained.

At the time when it appears that the Indonesians may break the Australian line at Katherine, Peacock authorises the construction of 10 nuclear weapons. Although the blueprints are old, ironically due to this fact, the current knowledge & expertise of the nuclear industry permits fast construction. Thankfully by the time the nuclear weapons are ready for deployment, the tide has turned in the war. The nuclear weapons are not needed.

1981 The Indonesian-Australia War ends in victory for Australia. None of the nuclear weapons built were eventually required. However, Australia now has 10 nuclear weapons & no one knows what to do with them. They are, for the moment, hidden under the Lucas Heights Atomic Centre & classified as nuclear waste.

The remaining  plutonium is taken back to its hiding place at Taranaki. Although this transfer is better planned than last years, it is nonetheless risky. Unknown to the Australians, the French are still curious about the plutonium spike from the pervious year. As part of their investigations, spy satellites now monitor the Australian interior. They think it is some kind of anomaly from the nuclear testing from decades past. Needless to say they identify the plutonium shipment moving from Lucas Heights back to Taranaki. Furthermore, they get an exact location of the hidden storage facility in the Australian outback.

1982 The Blurgiss attack planet Earth. The fledgling Earth Commonwealth (EC) space fleet is decimated. The Blurgiss then attack the planet itself, destroying London, Paris, Beijing, Washington, Moscow & Tokyo. Within minutes, 100 million humans have been killed. The EC retaliates by firing every ICBM & SLBM they have. Thousands of missiles attack the four Blurgiss ships, & although many are destroyed before they reach their targets, enough do & release millions of tons of nuclear explosions. The damage is sufficient to destroy three of the attacking ships & disable the fourth. After a deadly boarding battle, the remaining ship is captured.
 
Australia, for that matter most of the world, is left undamaged. Unfortunately, several countries try to take advantage of the situation & invade their neighbours. The Great Civil War begins.

As Libya, Iraq, Serbia & North Korea invade their neighbours, the UN announces that the EC is the world’s governing body. The EC immediately demands an end to the fighting. The pariah countries refuse. After Iraq detonates a nuclear bomb in Saudi Arabia, the EC is left with no choice. Unfortunately, the nuclear arsenals that it gained control over from the five major powers, are now useless. The tactical bombs, due to the destruction of the holders who still had the arming codes, require time to be modified for deployment. And it is time that the EC does not have.

The EC call on any nations who have secret nuclear arsenals to hand them over. Peacock immediately acknowledges the EC’s call as does Israel. The EC warns that the nuclear bombs of Australia & Israel will be used unless the offending nations cease their actions & surrender. None of them do.

The next day the 10 Australian nuclear bombs explode on targets in North Korea & Iraq. Another 10 nuclear bombs from Israel destroy targets in Serbia &  Libya. The Great Civil War, as a result, is concluded, albeit in a most dreadful way. It is estimated that 5 million more humans were killed in the Great Civil War - most of them by nuclear weapons.

1983 People around the world begin recovering from the enormous events of 1982. Many protest the EC’s conduct of the Great Civil War. Among the protesting countries are Australia & France. Although Australia & the world accepts publicly that only the EC will in future hold nuclear weapons (in fact all weapons of mass destruction), Peacock decides to keep the Australian plutonium stockpile a secret.

France is in an even tighter predicament than Australia. Millions of her citizens are dead. Furthermore she has lost her status as a nuclear world power. Her interim president, the previous defence minister, decides secretly to rearm with nuclear weapons.

Publicly he vows to ensure that Paris will never be destroyed again & blames the EC for the events of last year. Although he never says how this will be achieved, the EC nonetheless express concern & officially warn the interim French president to commit to the EC or occupation will occur. Luckily he his defeated in the French elections. He remains, however, as defence minister.

1984 Peacock announces an environmental clean-up of the Australian outback. Although not all radioactive sites will be part of this environmental program, several will be. Taranaki is not included.

1985 The French government wins the Australian contract. With help from the EC, & through their own efforts, the French have become leaders in nuclear clean-ups. Furthermore, their tender was the lowest.

1986 The French company, owned by the French Defence Force, begins the three year clean-up of the Australian outback. Although not as radioactive as recent locations, where nuclear weapons were detonated, the job is still dangerous.

The areas are sealed off and patrolled by the Australian Defence Force, while the French do their stuff. No one, however, seriously questions why the French construct a road that crosses the Taranaki restriction area. When one formal inquiry did occur, the answer was to connect the two main camps. To detour around the Taranaki area would increase the distance travelled by another 200km. Since they all had clearance, & it was a sensible reason, no further inquires were asked.

1987 The ALP leader Bob Hawk becomes the new Australian PM.

The Australian radiation clean-up continues.

1988 The French successfully complete their contract in the Australian outback. Australian scientists are impressed by the results. The ALP government is even more impressed when the French have also come in under budget.

1989 The Australian army recommences patrolling the Taranaki restriction zone. At the hidden plutonium storage facility something appears wrong. Senior staff are called in & their discovery shocks them -  the plutonium is gone.

Australia secretly contacts the French demanding an answer. There is none. Australia is trapped, it cannot complain to the EC over the issue because they should not have had the plutonium in the first place. Alas, now the French have the most destructive element known to mankind & their defence minister is not the most mentally stable man in the world.

1990  ASIS infiltrates the environmental action group Greenpeace. Either through subterfuge or  secret agreement,  Greenpeace sends a protest ship, the Rainbow Warrior, to the French research facility at Moruroa Atoll in the South Pacific.

Greenpeace claims that the French have a secret plutonium operation at the atoll. The French, of cause, deny this.

1991  After a successful protest operation at the French research base, the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior returns to Auckland in New Zealand.  Unfortunately on that same night, an explosion rips through the ship sinking it. One Greenpeace member is killed.

The New Zealand police act immediately & the next day arrest two suspects. It later turns out that these two suspects are members of French Secret Service. They admit sinking the Rainbow Warrior expecting to be released immediately as France has several intelligence & policing treaties with New Zealand.

The New Zealanders, however, are not impressed by what appears to be state sponsored terrorism. When military divers discover a small & unusual sample of a metal, which they later find to be plutonium, the French agents & the Greenpeace crew are all detained for further questioning. The French agents are shocked & protest this action. Their protests are ignored as the Greenpeace members in the neighbouring cells cheer the police decision.

Matters become even more confusing when an Australian member of the Rainbow Warrior crew identifies herself as an ASIS agent. She explains that the Australian government suspected for some time that the French had plutonium. More importantly she admits that the sample found in the wreckage of the Rainbow Warrior was personally stolen by her from the French base two weeks ago. She produces a video recording of the event to confirm her claims.

The leadership of the EC, particularly Arthur C Clarke, are immediately informed of this. The French base is raided by Space Marines who descend in space shuttles thereby thoroughly surprising the French defenders.

The President of France was totally unawares what the French Secret Service & Defence Forces were up too. Needless to say the defence minister was arrested, charged with treason & executed later in the year.

1992 The plutonium, that was confiscated at the French base, was thoroughly analysed.  It was discovered that it was manufactured in Australia. In fact it was produced in the same reactor as the Australian nuclear bombs deployed by the EC at the end of the Great Civil War.

Clarke immediately ordered a ban on the report's release. Next he phoned the Australian president Mark Oliphant.
"Mark, you old space pirate, I have a few questions for you". Clarke said, surprising many of his advisers by being so informal.
"Oh?" replied Oliphant, "And what may they be Mr Secretary-General?".
"It’s this French plutonium we confiscated last year".
"I recall reading about it, sterling job Arthur."
"Thanks, but that’s not why I’m ringing. The tests confirm it was made in Australia during the sixties."
Oliphant remained silent at the other end.
"Do you know anything about that Mark?" Clarke inquired not expecting an honest answer.
"Well Arthur, it’s like this. You ask me no questions I tell you no lies".

And with that both old colleagues burst out laughing. Their advisers could not understand what could be so humorous about the situation. Clarke & Oliphant, however, knew each other.
 

Links to other sites on the Web

The Australian War of Independence (1975-76)
The Indonesian-Australia War (1980-81)
Alternative History Homepage
AlternateHistory.com

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