slapnut
01-21-2009, 02:49 PM
Thursday Jan 22, 2009
Hundreds of servicemen, including New Zealanders, were poisoned with radiation because the British government did not understand the risks of its nuclear tests in Australia and the South Pacific, a court in London has been told.
A lawyer representing veterans of the tests, carried out in the 1950s, on Wednesday told the opening of their legal battle for compensation that many of the servicemen had become ill after being exposed to dangerous levels of radiation unknowingly.
Ben Browne QC said new scientific evidence, including a study carried out in New Zealand, clearly demonstrated a link between the illnesses suffered by the men and their exposure to the radioactive blasts, including those carried out at Maralinga in South Australia.
He said British government documents showed "things did go seriously wrong" during the tests, carried out between 1952 and 1958, and the UK's claims that only a handful of servicemen were exposed to radiation were wrong.
Firstly it is now apparent that those responsible for the tests did not really understand what risks were entailed," Browne told the court.
"One group of men were so badly contaminated by the penetrating radiation that they were found, over days, to produce radioactive urine.
"Another man was found to be `radioactive above the permissible limit despite four showers and a haircut', indeed his level did not fall to within the permissible level until the following day.
"So the government's own document shows that they did not really know what they were doing and that because of that men were poisoned with radiation."
About 800 veterans are involved in the case.
Wednesday's hearing was the first step in the veterans' battle to sue Britain's Ministry of Defence for millions of pounds in compensation.
The MoD argues that too much time has passed between when the tests occurred and the veterans' claim for compensation.
Many of the 800 veterans involved in the case blame the radiation from the tests for causing a range of health problems, from cancer to fertility problems and reduced life expectancy.
Outside the court, the veterans' lawyer Neil Sampson said the full liability case would take another two to three years to prepare, if the court orders a trial.
"Then hopefully the veterans will get justice," he told the BBC.
"Their argument is that when they first started these tests 50 years ago on various national servicemen, they were exposed to radiation which has caused them to suffer illness and disease and in some cases death since then and they seek compensation."
If a compensation hearing can go ahead, the defence ministry could face claims from up to 1000 individuals, potentially costing millions of pounds.
Australian nuclear test veterans said last year they would monitor the mass compensation claim in Britain as they prepare to launch their own class action against the federal government.
Last June, the federal government announced it would provide free cancer tests and treatment to about 100 Australian police who patrolled the British nuclear test site at Maralinga up to 1988.
Only about 450 of the test veterans are still alive and many claim to have suffered serious illness, including cancer, as a result of exposure to radiation during the 1950s tests.
Hundreds of servicemen, including New Zealanders, were poisoned with radiation because the British government did not understand the risks of its nuclear tests in Australia and the South Pacific, a court in London has been told.
A lawyer representing veterans of the tests, carried out in the 1950s, on Wednesday told the opening of their legal battle for compensation that many of the servicemen had become ill after being exposed to dangerous levels of radiation unknowingly.
Ben Browne QC said new scientific evidence, including a study carried out in New Zealand, clearly demonstrated a link between the illnesses suffered by the men and their exposure to the radioactive blasts, including those carried out at Maralinga in South Australia.
He said British government documents showed "things did go seriously wrong" during the tests, carried out between 1952 and 1958, and the UK's claims that only a handful of servicemen were exposed to radiation were wrong.
Firstly it is now apparent that those responsible for the tests did not really understand what risks were entailed," Browne told the court.
"One group of men were so badly contaminated by the penetrating radiation that they were found, over days, to produce radioactive urine.
"Another man was found to be `radioactive above the permissible limit despite four showers and a haircut', indeed his level did not fall to within the permissible level until the following day.
"So the government's own document shows that they did not really know what they were doing and that because of that men were poisoned with radiation."
About 800 veterans are involved in the case.
Wednesday's hearing was the first step in the veterans' battle to sue Britain's Ministry of Defence for millions of pounds in compensation.
The MoD argues that too much time has passed between when the tests occurred and the veterans' claim for compensation.
Many of the 800 veterans involved in the case blame the radiation from the tests for causing a range of health problems, from cancer to fertility problems and reduced life expectancy.
Outside the court, the veterans' lawyer Neil Sampson said the full liability case would take another two to three years to prepare, if the court orders a trial.
"Then hopefully the veterans will get justice," he told the BBC.
"Their argument is that when they first started these tests 50 years ago on various national servicemen, they were exposed to radiation which has caused them to suffer illness and disease and in some cases death since then and they seek compensation."
If a compensation hearing can go ahead, the defence ministry could face claims from up to 1000 individuals, potentially costing millions of pounds.
Australian nuclear test veterans said last year they would monitor the mass compensation claim in Britain as they prepare to launch their own class action against the federal government.
Last June, the federal government announced it would provide free cancer tests and treatment to about 100 Australian police who patrolled the British nuclear test site at Maralinga up to 1988.
Only about 450 of the test veterans are still alive and many claim to have suffered serious illness, including cancer, as a result of exposure to radiation during the 1950s tests.