First-of-its-kind exhibition on Britain's nuclear testing opens to the public

Jack Carson
Fri, 01 May 2026 11:20:02 +0000

A first-of-its-kind museum exhibition focused on Britain’s nuclear bomb testing has officially opened to the public today.

‘Into the Atom’ is dedicated to the RAF crews who were ordered to head into the sky minutes after detonation and take measurements of the bombs, flying through their heavily radioactive mushroom clouds.

Located at the Wings Museum in West Sussex, it’s the first permanent exhibition about Britain’s cloud samplers in the UK.

It features the testimony of those veterans who went up into the air and lets visitors discover their stories for themselves.

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RAF 76 Squadron is one of the crews highlighted at the museum. Working as part of Operations Grapple Y and Zulu Flagpole, they were ordered to fly through the detonations of two of the biggest bombs dropped near Christmas Island at three megatons and one megaton respectively.

Flight Lieutenant Joe Pasquini flew through those tests and is remembered by Founder of LABRATS International, Alan Owen.

He told GB News: “To witness that explosion going off, and to then be told, ‘we're actually going to fly into that mushroom cloud’, it's just unbelievable.

“Joe mentions that when the bomb went off, it was like seeing the face of God. He mentions flying through the cloud was like going into hell.

“Joe had already written down the readings, he knew about radioactivity, and he knew that he was being exposed, but they still went through that cloud, and he still wrote those readings down.

“To think that these guys saw it, but carried on and did their duty.”They are one of the more forgotten parts of Britain’s Nuclear Testing in the 1950s and 60s, but these men were flying into the clouds of bombs a thousand times more powerful that the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The crews on board these sampling flights were told they could be exposed to 10 roentgens and be safe, but when 76 squadron were ordered to make six passes through the cloud in Operation Zulu Flagpole, declassified documents show the men received more than double the limit.

Other documents show no formal enquiry regarding their overexposure was made with the crew to prevent causing what was labelled as “needless anxiety”.

The men knew that as the plane flew back and forth through the mushroom cloud, the only protection from high doses of radiation was the body of the aircraft.

Kevin Hunt is one of the two brothers who started the museum back in 2003, and at this family-run site, the story of nuclear testing is personal because of their Uncle Tom.

“He was working on the engines for the aircraft that were flying through the cloud, taking samples of the radiation.

“He was in Australia and it was hot, so their standard uniform when they were working was shorts and short-sleeved shirts.

“There was absolutely no protection from radiation whatsoever and he was probably handling parts of the aircraft that were highly radioactive.”

“Not a lot of people know about Britain’s nuclear testing, and this is an area that needs to be recognised in history. It deserves to be recognised in history.”

Thousands of Britain’s nuclear test veterans are living with the effects of their service today, with many previously telling GB News of their, and their descendant’s, health conditions linked to their exposure to radiation.

The Ministry of Defence has previously said: “We are deeply grateful to all those who participated in the UK nuclear testing programme and recognise their immense contribution to national security.

"Ministers have directed teams across the Ministry of Defence and Atomic Weapons Establishment to thoroughly examine what information exists regarding medical testing of nuclear test veterans.”