HC Deb 19 July 1994 vol 247 cc115-6W
22. Mr. William O'Brien

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his assessment of the number of service personnel who were involved in the Christmas Island nuclear tests and are still living; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Hanley

Although information is not held in the form requested, studies by the National Radiological Protection Board have shown that of over 20,000 former participants in the atmospheric nuclear test programme which took place during the 1950s and early 1960s, some 2,800 had died by the end of 1990. This death rate is lower than among the general population in the same age group, and no higher than for the matched control group in the NRPB study. Copies of the NRPB reports are in the Library of the House.