Operation Totem was a pair of British atmospheric nuclear tests which took place in October 1953. The only ones conducted at a temporary site in Australia, Emu Field, they followed the Operation Hurricane test of the first British atomic bomb which had taken place at the Montebello Islands a year previously. A rehearsal for the first test took place on 1 October but rain delayed the actual test, originally scheduled for a week later, until 14 October. The yield was bigger than expected and only a little below the maximum planned in safety assessments. Read more