KEY POINTS:
British hydrogen bomb tests in the Pacific caused significant genetic damage in New Zealand sailors 50 years ago, a study released today says.
During the 1957 tests, codenamed Operation Grapple, 551 sailors on the frigates HMNZS Pukaki and HMNZS Rotoiti carried out weather reporting duties, rescues and duties specific to the detonations. They also patrolled the test area for ships and submarines looking to spy on the tests.
The sailors have long claimed being irradiated at the test sites at Christmas and Malden Islands, in the group now known as Kiribati, affected them and their children.
Now, a Massey University study has found cellular abnormalities in the veterans and blames radiation exposure.
The study, led by Dr Al Rowland, tested 50 seamen involved in the tests, compared to 50 control subjects.
Dr Rowland's previous research has included a study of the effects of the defoliant Agent Orange on New Zealand soldiers during the Vietnam War. He had also done other studies into the health of veterans of Operation Grapple.
His team found exceptionally high numbers of "rogue cells", or translocations, inside the former sailors.
"Rogue cells are usually rare in comparison with the general level of chromosomally aberrant cells, so their high frequency in the veterans in our study is intriguing," the researchers said.
"The results are indicative of the veterans having incurred long term genetic damage as a consequence of performing their duties relating to Operation Grapple."
The study writers also suggested further tests be carried out on British and Fijian armed forces staff who participated in the tests.
New Zealand Nuclear Test Veterans Association chairman Roy Sefton said many of those exposed to the blasts have had shorter life spans and chronic bad health.
In many cases, so had their children.
"We had been pushing for a long, long time for some recognition of our concerns from the government that we had been irradiated," he told NZPA.
He was on board HMNZS Pukaki during the tests.
"When we started this, in the 80s, we were laughed at. I was barred from the local RSA because they thought I was being disloyal to the country," he said.
"People in those days couldn't believe a government would do this to its servicemen."
They watched the seven megaton and two kiloton aerial explosions, from distances between 52 and 278 kilometres away.
During the blasts the sailors on deck watching the blasts wore denim coveralls, masks and gloves. Clean-up crews wore thicker nylon suits, carried Geiger counters and washed down irradiated parts of the ships' superstructures. Other crew members were in special shelters in the bowels of the ships.
But it probably wasn't so much the blasts that exposed the sailors as the weather monitoring, Mr Sefton said.
Seamen wearing tropical rig - shorts and sandals - spent their days on the frigates' decks. As water on board the ships was limited, they would wash in and drink rainwater.
"That's probably where we were exposed to most of the fallout - in the rain," he said.
Mr Sefton had also seen classified minutes of meetings held during the tests, in which the British military discussed whether sailors' blood would be tested for radiation levels. The decision was made not to test them, to limit the liability to future governments, he said.
"We are at the end of our lives and we won't be here much longer. What we want is for our children to be tested to work out what damage has been passed on," he said.
Veterans Affairs Minister Rick Barker said the Government was open to new information and analysis which gave it insight into the health effects of exposure to nuclear tests as part of Operation Grapple.
It had made a commitment to monitor national and international research into the health of nuclear test veterans and their children and this research, which had been supported by the Government, was a welcome addition, he said.
Mr Barker noted that nuclear test veterans were able to access War Disablement Pensions for any disability they believed was attributable to or aggravated by their service in Operation Grapple or in observing the nuclear tests at Mururoa.
If a pension was awarded then all medical care for that disability would be fully funded.
- NZPA
