The UK government has confirmed that it does not have the capability to uniquely identify British nuclear test veterans (NTVs) in the War Pension Scheme, making it impossible to determine their specific acceptance rate, according to a written parliamentary response from the Ministry of Defence (MoD).
Responding to a question from Caroline Dinenage, Conservative MP for Gosport, on 3rd March 2025, Al Carns, Minister for Veterans, stated that the War Pensions Computer System does not have a facility to track applications from nuclear test veterans separately.
He explained that while some paper claim files may contain a Nuclear Test Veterans Priority Claim Request or additional details about involvement in nuclear testing, this information is not always present, making an accurate assessment impossible without manually reviewing all War Pension files at disproportionate cost.
However, the government did provide overall acceptance rates for all veterans applying to the War Pension Scheme over the past ten years, which indicate a declining success rate for initial claims.
War Pension Scheme First Claim Outcomes (2014–2024)
| Financial Year | Successful | Awarded 0% | Rejected |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014/15 | 74% | 17% | 8% |
| 2015/16 | 75% | 17% | 8% |
| 2016/17 | 74% | 17% | 9% |
| 2017/18 | 75% | 16% | 9% |
| 2018/19 | 76% | 16% | 9% |
| 2019/20 | 73% | 16% | 11% |
| 2020/21 | 75% | 14% | 11% |
| 2021/22 | 71% | 18% | 11% |
| 2022/23 | 72% | 17% | 12% |
| 2023/24 | 67% | 21% | 12% |
According to the data, the proportion of successful first-time claims has declined from 74-76% in 2014-2019 to 67% in 2023-2024, while the percentage of claims awarded 0% (no financial compensation) has risen to 21%.
Carns also noted that some rejected veterans may have later appealed or submitted a second claim, which may have resulted in a War Pension being awarded. However, these figures were not included in the data.
The response highlights the lack of dedicated tracking for nuclear test veterans within the War Pension Scheme, an issue that has long been a point of concern for campaigners seeking recognition and compensation for veterans exposed to radiation during British nuclear tests.
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“ War Pensions Computer System does not have a facility to track applications from nuclear test veterans separately.”
I doubt that is fully true.
I suspect there is an acquisition code that would show the source of acquisition.
The reason that is needed is that it relates to the type and extent of the pensionable value.
If the system was not designed to specifically identify nuclear test veterans – and why would it the system would have been paper based during nuclear testing with no expectation that nuclear testing would in anyway become relevant either at the time or when it was transferred onto a computer system then I can see their problem. Almost all the people in question will have left the military when computerised and therefore simply having pay grades & start and end dates would have been all that was needed.
Hate to be difficult but haven’t the military got bigger fish to fry at the moment.
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My point is to do with how theses *specific* pensionable benefits are calculated.
These are additional disability benefits of a specific class.
So there must be a class code applied to the calculation.
It may not say ‘nuclear veteran’ but the system needs to know to calculate the benefit.
I suspect there are two problems:-
1. The system never conceived the need for holding this data
2. This information my not be available in any form (including the old paper records)
In which case it might be detective work to go through all the paper records and make a reasonable deduction based on the information available. The pension system may need a substantial upgrade (or total rewrite) to include the functionality required. A lot of work probably for a dwindling number of people.
There is an additional class of pension.
That class has a code – so it can be calculated by the software. Otherwise how does the software know how much to add?
So you can run a batch that generates a list of everyone with those codes and then weed that.
Oh they lie.
They have all the details needed, sir James Josephson who was employed by the Government in 1943 to register all the details of every person engaged on the nuclear programme, beginning with the USA and then our own experiments. He give all details in a book (Top secret) these files are now hidden away in Scotland. Before he retired he took some of the files and locked them away in a secure place in California USA ,to be opened at his death by two trusted friends and the contents given to Susie Boniface , but 2 days after his death the so called safe storage went up in flames. A coincidence? I think not. These are the sort of people we veterans have had to deal with with and it seems we still are. Your can read it for your selves, book called Top Secret, by Sir James Josephson, Edited by S McRoth.
Whilst I’m the first to say that MoD played fast and loose with servicemen’s lives in these tests – one of my relatives was responsible for radiological monitoring and developed some of the kit used….there is a big however coming…
I’d try looking up “Sir James Gordon Josephson, OBE” as, as far as I can see, he features in none of the Queen’s New Years Honours lists, as claimed.
I’m afraid this is a work of fiction passed off as fact. A few other people have come to the same conclusion – which is quite shameful when you work out who the real author actually is…..he is not helping his cause at all with this.
You can search the official Gazette yourself online.
I’ll happily retract this if you can prove there ever was such a person as “Sir James Gordon Josephson, OBE” – I’d be surprised as he doesn’t show up in any of the usual [now digital] registers of births and deaths.
Anyone know the reason for having servicemen witness the tests?