Australia confronts UK over N-tests

The legacy of nuclear testing at Maralinga is still visible

The Australian Government is considering demanding compensation from Britain for using Australian servicemen in radiation experiments in the 1950s.

We were testing the effects of very low level radiation fallout on clothing not personnel

UK Ministry of Defence spokesman

The UK Government admitted on Friday that Australian troops had been ordered to run, walk and crawl across contaminated nuclear test sites.

But it says the troops were only exposed to very low levels of radiation and were not put at risk.

The Australian Government will raise the issue on Monday at a meeting with Britain's defence minister in London.

Not satisfied

"I think where a clear connection can be made between servicemen and women suffering as a result of the tests and what happened during those tests, of course the federal government would look at those questions, " Australian Foreign Affairs Minister Alexander Downer said on Saturday.

Mr Downer's comments are an indication that his government is not satisfied with British reassurances about the safety of tests.

New research into Australian archive documents at Scotland's Dundee University has revealed that 24 Australian servicemen tested different types of clothing to find out what protection they offered against radiation.

The researcher, Professor Sue Rabbitt Roff, said the archives contradicted statements by the UK Government that no humans were used in experiments in nuclear weapons tests.

Britain conducted a series of tests at Monte Bello Island off Western Australia and at Maralinga in the southern Australian desert during the 1950s.

In one test at Maralinga, the servicemen were asked to wear particular types of clothing as they walked and crawled in the area hours and days after the detonation.

Asked to participate

But Britain denied that this amounted to using people for experimental purposes.

Servicemen were told to crouch moments before a detonation

"We never used people as human guinea pigs," a Ministry of Defence spokesman said.

"We did conduct tests in the 1950s and 1960s on Commonwealth officers and they were asked to participate as logistical support.

"We were testing the effects of very low level radiation fallout on clothing, not personnel."

Those issues will be raised on Monday when Australia's Minister for Veteran Affairs, Bruce Scott, meets UK Defence Minister John Spellar in London.

Nuclear tests timeline

1952-63 - British Government carries out nuclear tests in Australia

1956 - Maralinga becomes location for all tests in Australia

1967 - Maralinga officially closed

1984 Australian Royal Commission set up in response to safety concerns

One survivor of the nuclear trials in south Australia says the death rate among his former colleagues is alarmingly high because of illnesses caused by the exposure to radiation.

Avon Hudson, who served with the Royal Australian Air Force in the early 1960s, said the dangers were so great, men had a better chance of survival in a war zone than they did at Maralinga.

Morris May, a lawyer representing a group of 30 Australian veterans seeking compensation for exposure to radiation during nuclear testing, told Australian radio his clients had long claimed they were used as guinea pigs.

He said one veteran, a driver, had described how he had been instructed to walk through a contaminated area wearing army issue woollen clothing. No one had believed him.