Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they will provide compensation to veterans, and where appropriate their descendants, for injuries or illnesses caused by radiation exposure from nuclear tests (1) in the UK, or (2) authorised by the UK.

This Government is deeply grateful to all those who participated in the UK nuclear testing programme. We recognise their Service and the huge contribution they have made to the UK’s security.

Around 22,000 Nuclear Test Veterans were considered in an analysis of the data in the Nuclear Weapons Test Participants Study – a long-term epidemiological study of the health of veterans who were present at UK nuclear testing between 1952 and 1967. Four analyses of this data to date, concluded that Nuclear Test Veterans have a similar incidence of cancer and, in general, a longer healthy life expectancy than the control group. The possibility that test participation caused an increase in risk of leukaemia cannot be ruled out. Our policy is therefore to award a war pension for claims for leukaemia having clinical onset within 25 years of presence at test sites.

Nuclear Test Veterans and their entitled family members are already eligible to apply for compensation under the War Pension Scheme. There is no time limit for claiming, however if a claim is made more than seven years after termination of service, as would be the case for Nuclear Test Veterans, the claimant is granted the benefit of doubt when there is uncertainty about whether the disablement is linked to or worsened by their service. Factors such as being on operations or in a hazardous environment can support a service-related claim. Claims handlers will review historical records, including medical records, to establish a causal link to service for Nuclear Test Veterans seeking compensation.

This Government has no current plans to develop a specific compensation scheme for either Nuclear Test Veterans or their families.

Ministers are keen to engage with the issue of records head on and have repeatedly met with MPs and groups in the nuclear test veteran community to discuss a range of topics. The Minister for Veterans and People, Al Carns, has commissioned officials across the Ministry of Defence, as a priority, to look at what information may be held by the Department. An update on the progress to date will be provided before summer recess.

Four analyses of an independent epidemiological study have previously been carried out, the latest report was published in 2022. This report concluded that overall levels of mortality and cancer incidence in nuclear test veterans have continued to be similar to those in a matched Service control group, and lower than in the general population.