Britain’s Nuclear Legacy

After the 1945 bombing of Japan, Britain joined the Cold War arms race, detonating its own atomic bombs in tests on Pacific atolls and in the Australian outback. Servicemen were stationed just miles from the blasts with little or no protective gear, while pilots and ground crews were tasked with collecting radioactive dust and decontaminating aircraft.

From 1952 to 1963, 39,000 British and Commonwealth servicemen, civilians and scientists worked at nuclear test sites while 45 atomic and hydrogen bombs were detonated. Although the Ministry of Defence (MoD) received warnings about radiation risks from the 1960s, Britain continued testing underground in the Nevada Desert until 1991 – displacing Indigenous communities and contaminating their lands for millennia.

Many servicemen and veterans subsequently suffered from rare cancers, infertility, and chronic illnesses. Partners experienced high miscarriage rates, and their children were often born with severe birth defects and disabilities, many of which proved fatal.

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The MoD misled multiple court cases by refusing to disclose information relating to the nuclear tests that might have supported the veterans’ claims for damages. This included the results of blood and urine tests carried out on veterans to monitor the impact of radiation exposure. Many of these records were destroyed, and the MoD claimed that the tests were never carried out. In fact, thousands of troops were sampled, and at least 370 sample records still exist.

The MoD also commissioned studies that concluded radiation exposure had no long-term effects on the body. These studies are known to be flawed.

“This is a criminal cover-up on an industrial scale and only Parliament can overturn it… Why has this one got the firmest of lids on it? I think it is because it goes to the heart of the British state”

Andy Burnham Mayor of Greater Manchester

“If you think that you’re waiting for all these guys to go because they are in their eighties, you are going to be very much mistaken because the descendants are coming behind and we are well researched”

Alan Owen Founder of LABRATS