§ Mr. CarringtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Social Security what arrangements exist for compensating through the war pensions scheme ex-service men who took part in the British nuclear weapons test programme who subsequently developed cancerous diseases; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mrs. Gillian ShephardIt is open to any ex-service man who suffers disablement which he considers to be due to service to make a claim for war pension.
As regards the British nuclear test programme, the rigorous safety precautions adopted were such that only a small proportion of the participants could have been exposed specifically to ionising radiation and that those who were exposed received only small radiation doses. Consequently the Government are confident that no one should have suffered harm as a result of exposure to ionising radiation.
However, in view of the concern which some participants had expressed in this matter, the Government commissioned in 1983 the independent National Radiological Protection Board to undertake a study of the health of the participants, investigating whether it showed any correlation with radiation exposure. Its report, published in 1988, concluded: 83W
small hazards of leukaemia and multiple myeloma may well have been associated with participation in the tests, but that such participation has not otherwise had a detectable effect on the participants' expectation of life or on their total risk of developing cancer.Although the report showed a slight increase in the rate of occurrences of multiple myeloma and leukaemia, other than chronic lymphatic leukaemia, it did not establish any firm evidence of a causal relationship between increased incidence of any cancers and participation in the test programme.
Proof, however, is not essential for a claim to succeed under the war pensions scheme. There only needs to be reliable evidence which raises a reasonable doubt whether a condition is caused or aggravated by service. The Department's doctors are satisfied that the report's evidence does raise sufficient doubt in the case of participants suffering from multiple myeloma or leukaemia (other than chronic lymphatic leukaemia). Any claim to a war pension by such service men or the widows of such service men is therefore likely to succeed, and seven awards have been made.
The Report by the NRPB included data up to 1 January 1984. The NRPB has advised that, in order to provide a reliable assessment of the further accumulated data for the period 1 January 1984 to 1 January 1989, it would be necessary to conduct a full-scale validation and analysis exercise. In the light of this advice, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence has set in hand a further study by the NRPB. I understand that it hopes to be in a position to report its findings by the end of 1991.
We shall await the NRPB's further report with interest and we shall take full account of the findings to the extent that they provide any additional information which might affect participants' entitlement to war pensions.