---

Ministry of Defence

Answer

Mr. Livingstone: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his policy in respect of claims that former service personnel who participated in the nuclear tests programme in Australia and the south Pacific have developed (a) leukaemia, excluding chronic lymphatic and (b) multiple myeloma as a result of those tests; and if he will make a statement. [17953] Mr. Soames: My Department's policy is based on the conclusions of the studies by the National Radiological Protection Board. The second report concluded that the excess of leukaemia in test participants compared with controls in the period two to 25 years after the tests is likely to be a chance finding, although the possibility that test participation may have caused a small risk of developing leukaemia in the early years after the tests cannot be completely ruled out. It also concluded that data available from the additional follow-up since 1988 did not support the suggestion from the previous report that participants may have experienced a small hazard of multiple myeloma, which also appeared to be a chance finding. The general conclusion of the NRPB studies was that participation in the nuclear weapon testing programme had not had a detectable effect on the participants' expectation of life nor on their risk of developing cancer or other diseases. These findings provide no grounds for claims for compensation and no such claims have been made against my Department.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

17953; 291 c402-3W

Session

1996-97

Subjects

Compensation Cancer Nuclear weapons Testing Leukaemia Veterans