Montebello Atom Bomb Testing

Not many people today believe me when I tell them that in the 50s I was required to walk around the ship I was serving on off the West Australian coast ,giga counter in hand to take radiation readings. Every four hours a crew member would set off in his typical tropical rig of tongs, shorts and sometime singlet to do the readings.The British Government carried out atomic testing on Montebello Island just off the Australian coast near Derby . Little or no concern what ever that such activity posed any form of health risk was considered.Our Federal government at the time assured the general population that all safety measures were in place. No white gloves, mask or safety helmet  nothing in fact was even considered necessary. I have no idea how many seaman if any ever suffered any side effects from this exposure as most would be dead  by now time heals everything. All this of course sounds like agent orange in Vietnam fiasco also claimed to be harmless. The important thing now for every Australian is to make sure such  political spin never see the light of day again.