Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what order his Department is issuing Nuclear Test Medals in; and how many Nuclear Test Medals had been issued by 16 October 2023.
The total number of Nuclear Test Medal (NTM) applications received as at 16 October 2023 was 3,198 and 1,060 awards have been issued so far.
The initial priority was given to veterans who had applied prior to 18 September 2023 with applications from those over 90 and/or the terminally ill reviewed first. The MOD is now starting to issue medals to widows who had applied prior to 18 September 2023, whilst continuing to process new cases from veterans. Once widow applications have been processed this will be followed by the processing of applications from other next of kin.