ABSTRACT

In the mid-1980s a Royal Commission was established to investigate the conduct of the British nuclear testing program in Australia (1952–1963). It sought to document the impact on military participants, nearby Indigenous communities and downwind rural and urban populations. Amongst the evidence presented were official documents, photographs and films recording the atomic detonations. This article considers as ‘visible evidence’ previously unknown or withheld films – as both raw and edited footage, now publicly available – that hold the latent potential of filmic ‘mutation’, evolving from the original utilitarian or propagandist use to be recast as corroborative data that may serve to clarify disputed claims of harm caused by occupational exposure to radiation and ongoing contamination of traditional lands.

摘要

20 世纪 80 年代中期，皇家委员会成立，负责调查英国在澳大利亚进行的核试验计划（1952 年至 1963 年）。它试图记录对军事参与者、附近的土著社区和下风向的农村和城市人口的影响。出示的证据包括记录原子弹爆炸的官方文件、照片和影片。本文将以前不为人知或隐瞒的电影视为“可见证据”——作为原始和编辑过的镜头，现在公开可用——它们具有电影“突变”的潜在潜力，从最初的功利主义或宣传用途演变为佐证数据这可能有助于澄清关于职业性辐射照射和传统土地持续受到污染造成伤害的有争议的主张。