nuclear-news

NZ Mururoa veterans want compensation STUFF.CO.NZ 7 jUNE 09 New Zealand veterans exposed to radiation from French nuclear testing at Mururoa Atoll are hoping the Government will take a lead from a British court judgment and pay them compensation.

Last week the High Court in London announced veterans from New Zealand, Australia, Fiji and Britain could sue the British Ministry of Defence for compensation for radiation exposure from British nuclear testing in the 1950s.

The High Court clearance came about because of cutting-edge research by New Zealand scientist Dr Al Rowland, who proved the radiation New Zealand sailors were exposed to in the South Pacific and Australia between 1952 and 1958 caused illnesses including cancer and chromosome damage.

Mururoa Veterans Society president Peter Mitchell said today the New Zealand Government should also allow compensation for the New Zealand sailors affected by radiation exposure in 1973.

He said 500 New Zealand sailors were exposed to radiation when the Government sent the frigates Otago and Canterbury to Mururoa to draw world attention to French atmospheric nuclear testing.

The exposure has had lasting effects because they were not told the dangers of being so close to the nuclear explosions he said.

“Nobody told us that many of us, and our children and grandchildren, would subsequently suffer radiation effects”………………………….

The veterans took part in the programme on the Australian mainland, Monte Bello islands and Christmas Island between 1952 and 1958 and have claimed that is the reason they suffer cancer, skin defects and fertility problems………………

Many of them are terminally ill and seven have died since the hearing at London’s High Court in January.

Fiji nuclear veterans sign up legal help for British compo bid Radio New Zealand 10 June 09

Fiji nuclear service veterans have signed an agreement with their London-based lawyers to help them claim compensation from the British government following a court ruling.

The British High Court ruled last Friday that ex-servicemen exposed to the atomic tests off Christmas Island and Australia in the 1950s can sue the UK government for compensation.

About 300 Fiji servicemen took part in the tests and about 200 surviving veterans or their families are now seeking compensation for ill health.

Fijilive reports that members of the Fiji Nuclear Test Veterans Association met with London-based law firm Rosenblatt Solicitors to sign the agreement.

Families Fight Ohio Uranium Plant Workers’ Compensation RulingBy Terry KinneyJune 8, 2009

Relatives of workers who died of exposure to radiation or toxic materials at a Cold War-era uranium enrichment plant in Ohio are fighting a ruling by state officials that keeps them from receiving workers’ compensation death benefits.

They say they should not be penalized for missing a deadline for filing claims because the government withheld information for years and workers did not know they were working in a life-threatening environment………….

……………..”Congress recognized that a large number of nuclear weapons workers who supplied the Cold War effort were put at risk without their knowledge or consent,” alleges a lawsuit filed by Fulton last week in Ohio. “Congress also recognized that many top secret records were now documenting unmonitored exposures.”