§ Mr. Martyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many claims for compensation his Department has received since 1965 relating to radiation tests on humans; and if he will make a statement. [34478]
§ Mr. SoamesWe are not aware of any such claims, other than in relation to alleged exposure to ionising radiation during the atmospheric nuclear test programme in the 1950s and early 1960s. If those involved had been subjected, accidentally or otherwise, to dangerous levels of radiation, however, an overall excess of death and of cancer would have been expected among British nuclear test veterans subsequently. In fact, studies by the National Radiological Protection Board of over 20,000 British nuclear test veterans have found no overall excess of death or cancer.