Plutonium levels at nuclear test site in WA up to 4,500 times higher than rest of coast, study finds

Researchers say contamination found at Montebello Islands is part of fallout from 1950s British tests and will persist for thousands of years

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Samples of marine sediment taken from the location of three 1950s British government nuclear bomb tests off the coast of Western Australia have revealed plutonium levels up to 4,500 times higher than the rest of the coastline.

Sixty six samples were taken from the shallow waters at the Montebello Islands, and scientists are now working to understand how marine life may be being affected by the sediment.