The government has said it will examine the implications of a previously restricted report into nuclear fallout contamination, following renewed scrutiny over its handling and potential impact on past legal cases involving veterans.
Responding to two written questions from Lord Watson of Wyre Forest, Defence Minister Lord Coaker did not directly address whether the report calls into question evidence presented in earlier litigation, but confirmed that further work is underway.
“We remain committed to listening to their concerns and working collaboratively to address them,” he said, referring to nuclear test veterans.
The questions relate to a 2014 report, disclosed under the Freedom of Information Act, which has prompted claims about the suppression of evidence and its possible relevance to historic court proceedings, including the Supreme Court case Ministry of Defence v AB and others.
Coaker pointed instead to a recent Commons statement, noting that ministers have committed to reviewing both the contents of the report and how it was handled.
“The Minister for Veterans and People reiterated the government’s commitment to maximum transparency and made a commitment to undertake work to fully understand the implications of the 2014 report and its handling, and to take action if necessary,” he said.
UK, USA & France all conducted nuclear tests in what would now be considered questionable circumstances in questionable places. Military personnel from their & allied nations were exposed in experiments that would now not be possible. A number of unaware civilians directly died (exploding bombs in out of the way places does not mean no-one was there). One country in particular continued tests well past the point everyone knew it was a very bad idea (the other two eventually offered to share data to convince them to stop). It is a sorry sad story all round.
DJ, I cannot fathom why observers (military personnel) viewed these nuclear tests in the 1950s whilst standing in the open not that far away from Ground Zero wearing no more protection than a pair of dark glasses. Surely radiation poisoning was known about from very soon after the Hiroshima and Nagasaki attacks? What was the point of the observers?
I doubt their opinion was sort. The problem with Hiroshima & Nagasaki is that the only observers were Japanese.
They were parking vehicles, including tanks at various distances to see what effect the blast had. Radiation is something you can’t see & unless you are close enough to get the equivalent of sunburn, you won’t feel it either. Sunburn still kills people today btw. Away from ground zero, it often took years for effects to surface. Countries refused to share so each repeated experiments & made the same mistakes all over again. How close is too close? How many years will it take to decide otherwise?
We have even had Russian troops camping in the grounds of Chernobyl in the current war (& it took some effort to convince them to move).