Written question asked by Llew Smith (Labour) on Thursday, 12 December 2002, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 17 December 2002. It was answered by Lord Moonie (Labour) on Tuesday, 17 December 2002 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Ministry of Defence

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many former British service people and military medical auxiliaries have been identified from (a) research conducted by or on behalf of his Department and (b) medical statistical data compiled by the former medical division of the Department of Social Security as suffering from the conditions (i) duodenitis and (ii) duodenal ulcer associated with or caused by exposure to irradiation from British atmospheric nuclear tests. - Includes figure and ref to the National Radiological Protection Board report NRPB-R266, "Mortality and Cancer Incident 1952-1990 in UK Participants in the UK Atmospheric Nuclear Weapon Tests and Experimental Programmes", Table 6.10.

Answer: Llew Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many former British service people and military medical auxiliaries have been identified from (a) research conducted by or on behalf of his Department and (b) medical statistical data compiled by the former medical division of the Department of Social Security as suffering from the conditions (i) duodenitis and (ii) duodenal ulcer associated with or caused by exposure to irradiation from British atmospheric nuclear tests. [87581] Dr. Moonie: No specific analysis of the incidence of these medical conditions among those who participated in the British atmospheric nuclear tests has been carried out on behalf of the Ministry of Defence. In the 1993, National Radiological Protection Board report NRPB- R266, entitled "Mortality and Cancer Incidence 1952-1990 in UK Participants in the UK Atmospheric Nuclear Weapon Tests and Experimental Programmes", deaths from duodenal ulcer and duodenitis were included in the category, "other diseases of the digestive system", and are shown in Table 6.10 of the report. The table shows a total of 46 deaths in this category in the cohort of test participants up to the end of 1990. No medical statistical data have been compiled by the former medical division of the Department of Social Security of nuclear test veterans suffering from these conditions associated with, or caused by, exposure to irradiation from British atmospheric nuclear tests.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 87581; 396 c720-1W
Session: 2002-03
Subjects: Diseases Nuclear weapons Radiation exposure Research Testing Digestive system Veterans
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk