UK veteran wins right to sue over nuclear weapons tests
IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency
London, June 5, IRNA – British ex-servicemen, who took part in nuclear weapons tests half-a-century ago, won the right to sue the government for compensation in a landmark ruling at London’s High Court on Friday.
The ruling means that more than 1,000 veterans can seek millions in compensation for ill-health, including cancer, skin defects and fertility problems, that they and the families suffered as a result to radiation from the nuclear tests conducted in the South Pacific during the 1950s.
The Ministry of Defence said that it pays compensation when liability was proven but argued that the claims were made too late long after the events.
During the hearing in January, Benjamin Browne, representing the ex-servicemen, said science had made a link between health and their role in the tests.
Many of those who took part did not realise the risks and it was only with the advance of scientific knowledge that veterans could proceed with claims.
Browne also argued that the UK government's attitude contrasted with those of many countries around the world who had set up schemes to compensate veterans as they fell ill.
Britain carried out a series of nuclear weapons tests in mainland Australia, the Montebello islands off the west Australian coast and on Christmas Island in the South Pacific.
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