Suffering Under the Shadow of the Atom Bomb

Imagine: a great flash of burning light paired with a cacophonous boom pounding the air. The perversion of nature. The terror.

The atomic bomb has been brought back into social consciousness with the release of the film ‘Oppenheimer’, but also, more worryingly, with the escalation of Russia’s efforts in their war with Ukraine. Fears of a return to the days of bomb testing are creeping into the news, particularly now that Russia has voted to remove their ban on atomic- weapons testing.

As a descendant of a nuclear test veteran, I can firmly state that we should not trivialise nuclear testing. The destructive nature of these bombs is obvious. While many people know that radiation poisoning has consequences, not everyone fully comprehends the true reality. Not everyone lives with those consequences daily- even now.

The nuclear test veterans have had to live their lives under the shadow of the atom bomb, just simply for doing their jobs. My grandfather, Derek Heaps, did his RAF national service in the 1950s. The Ministry of Defence positioned him at Kiritimati (also known as Christmas Island), one of the locations for Britain’s nuclear tests. He, the other servicemen, and the locals, could never have imagined the effects which that period would have on the rest of their lives. Nor could they imagine the lack of responsibility the Ministry of Defence would take for the impact on their health.

Between the 50s and 60s, the MOD tested 9 nuclear bombs under Operation Grapple. Servicemen and their equipment filled the island, where friendly native people still lived. During the time of the testing, no one had made it clear to any of the natives or servicemen that they could be putting their health at risk. The islanders and servicemen continued to fish and swim in the same sea that had nuclear bombs releasing their waste only 12 miles away. As part of their various duties, the servicemen washed the planes that had flown through the mushroom clouds and also collected samples from the beach without being provided with protective clothing.

During the tests themselves, my grandfather and the other servicemen were told simply to kneel and place their hands over their eyes; they were under the impression that this is all they would need to do in order to remain safe. He recounted to his family the great flash of heat and the boom of the bomb, alongside a terrifying vision of his own skeletal hands pressed against his eyeballs as the blinding light of the bomb flashed over him.

It would not be long after their service that the veterans would notice issues with their health. Both they and their descendants have experienced various health issues, including genetic mutations in babies born into their families. They have reported misshapen or enlarged body parts, a collection of rare conditions, cancer, infertility, miscarriages, missing limbs and missing reproductive organs in their babies, and much more. The effects can travel down through the family tree by several generations; currently, the veteran community has experienced 4 generations' worth of health implications from the testing in the 50s and 60s.

In my family, there have been significant signs of radiation and its effect. My grandfather had leukaemia, my mother has multiple skin and bone issues, and I require daily physiotherapy for hypermobility. This is just a snapshot from a much larger picture of suffering across this community.

Years after his service, the MOD had requested access to my grandfather’s medical record. He was told that this was supposed to be kept a secret from him, which his doctor felt uneasy about; this made my grandfather suspicious about how much the MOD had understood about the health risks before sending the men to the tests. After, he read a notice in the newspaper. It requested any ex- servicemen who had found their medical record investigated by the MOD to contact the writer of the notice. The veterans met and took action. This group laid the groundwork for the British Nuclear Test Veterans Association (BNTVA), along with the Nuclear Community Charity Fund, and still helps nuclear test veterans and their families with healthcare, legal aid, and accommodations.

Naturally, the veterans have sought compensation several times over the years, but each time they have hit a brick wall. Conclusively proving that all these different health issues are tied together is difficult, but collecting evidence from a secretive body like the Ministry of Defence is even more challenging. The MOD would need to accept responsibility for these health concerns in order for compensation to be granted. Many veterans feel that this will never happen, as it would mean the MOD would have to admit they were aware of the risks to veteran health to begin with.

And there’s the big question. Were they aware?

I had always found this a confusing question when I was growing up. The consequences of radiation poisoning have been known for years. Tesla burned his fingers under an x-ray in 1892. Hermann Joseph Meller understood the mutagenic effects of radiation in 1927. Madame Curie died of aplastic pernicious anaemia that developed because of radiation poisoning in 1934. My grandfather had seen men wearing hazmat suits and holding Geiger counters in their hands during Operation Grapple in the 50s. Surely, it was obvious.

But apparently, it is not. At least, not to those who control the discourse around legal acceptance of responsibility for risk and damage to both the lives of their veterans and family members.

For a significant number of years, there have been documents in the public domain that show that the Americans warned the British Government of potential health issues. And yet they went on with the brief of "testing the effects of the British Nuclear deterrent on men and equipment".

These individuals, who took the decisions that affected so many people and others unborn, are all long since passed. They took the shame of not doing the right thing by their charges to their graves, leaving modern day politicians to deal with the issues that were caused. Unfortunately, the faceless cadre behind the MOD and British arms industry is one of the most powerful lobbies in the UK; they continue to compound the damage and hurt by those initially responsible.

In more recent times, politicians like Rishi Sunak have acknowledged our community's suffering. They held a special event at the National Memorial Arboretum and distributed commemorative Nuclear Test medals. Note that these are commemorative only. They do not acknowledge the risk and rigour, heartache and suffering, which would leave the faceless cadre open to compensation claims.

The NCCF has benefited from government grants that provide help directly into our community. Much more is still to be done, but at least the door is open to discuss and work with government departments to improve the lives of our nuclear survivor community.

Let’s return to Oppenheimer. Many people think of the planet destroying capability of nuclear weapons when they hear, “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds". But I think the ‘worlds’ being destroyed are the personal worlds in which the veterans and their families live, worlds that have been, and continue to be, destroyed.

Will the faceless cadre behind the MOD release their inhuman, hurtful stranglehold upon these innocent people and allow the Government to step up and support them? I don't think so.