nuclear-news

Many have suffered for years from  serious illnesses which they blame on radiation and fear that they have passed on similar problems to their children.

Yet Britain is at the bottom of an international table for helping the veterans of  nuclear countries. Even the Isle of Man has gone further than London.

More than 20,000 servicemen took part in the British Nuclear Test programme in the 1950s and 1960s but only about 3,000 are left alive……..

Robert Mason, 73, who as an 18-year-old Royal Engineer was on Christmas Island, said: “We were guinea pigs. But they knew from the  atomic bombs on Japan about the dangers of radioactive fall-out.”

The patron of the British Nuclear Test Veterans Association, Tory MP John Baron , said: “Our veterans were subject to science which at the time was unknown. They were instructed to turn their backs on atomic explosions, dust themselves down against radioactive fallout, and treat any resulting blistering as routine.
“Britain is towards the bottom of the international ‘table of decency’ when it comes to how we treat our test veterans.

“Even the US compensated UK personnel who took part in the American tests on Christmas Island.
“It is high time the Government acknowledged its debt to those who ushered in our nuclear deterrent.”

Former Labour leader Neil Kinnock said 40 per cent of veterans have reported health problems among their children and grandchildren raising fears of a long term legacy of the bomb test.

He said: “It is no coincidence that many of these veterans and their descendants have several similar illnesses which include high incidence of rare cancers and musculoskeletal problems.
“It is clear from the convincing evidence given by the ex-servicemen that they were neither adequately protected nor properly made aware of the dangers to which they were being exposed.

“Our Government, therefore has a moral duty to recognise the hazards endured by these men and to give practical meaning to that acknowledgement by providing a Fund that gives assistance to those whose illness can reasonably be related to that experience.”  ……http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/445497/Veterans-exposed-to-radioactive-fallout-take-fight-for-justice-to-Number-10