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Ministry of Defence

Answer

Joan Ruddock: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what research his Department has (a) commissioned and (b) evaluated into the possible genetic effects on the children of veterans who served on Christmas Island during nuclear testing periods. [75831] Mr. Spellar: My Department has not commissioned any research into the possible genetic effects on the children of nuclear test veterans who served on Christmas Island. As far as I am aware, there is no scientific or medical evidence to show that health or other physical problems suffered by the children or grandchildren of nuclear test veterans can be attributed to participation in the UK's nuclear test programme 40 years ago. In November 1997, the National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) published the results of a major epidemiological study of the children of radiation workers. The study, entitled "Cancer in the Offspring of Radiation Workers--A Record Linkage Study" discounted the hypothesis (known as the Gardner Hypothesis) that fathers' exposure to radiation before conception is a cause of childhood leukaemia and non-Hodgkin lymphoma. This study was peer reviewed and published in the British Medical Journal. The other major study in this area involved about 30,000 children of those Japanese nationals irradiated as a result of the dropping of atomic bombs on Japan in World War II. This was published in 1990 and failed to detect any significant excess of mutations, untoward pregnancy outcomes, childhood mortality or excess cancer. A report on the US Nuclear tests published by the US Institute of Medicine in 1995 concluded that the size of the US test veteran population was not large enough to make practical a scientifically adequate and epidemiologically valid study of genetic effects in the children of test veterans. This is despite there being over 210,000 US test veterans, ten times the number in the UK.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

75831; 327 c349W

Session

1998-99

Subjects

Children Cancer Health hazards Radiation National Radiological Protection Board Nuclear weapons Radiation exposure Research Testing Leukaemia Christmas Island Veterans

Contains statistics

Yes