Pacific nuclear survivors call for UK support at Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM)
Pacific nuclear survivors call for UK support
Commonwealth servicemen who participated in the UK nuclear testing program in the Pacific are calling for recognition and compensation, as leaders gather in London for the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM).
This month is the 60th anniversary of Grapple Y, the test of a multi-megaton thermonuclear weapon by the United Kingdom in the central Pacific. The atmospheric nuclear test was held at Christmas (Kiritimati) Island on 28 April 1958, during Operation Grapple – the program to develop the British hydrogen bomb.
Sixty years on, sailors and soldiers from New Zealand and Fiji who participated in Operation Grapple have issued an open letter to the Commonwealth Heads of Government, calling for justice for the survivors of the UK nuclear tests.
In the open letter they call on British Prime Minister Theresa May (see below) to fulfil promises made 60 years ago, to address the health and environmental consequences of the UK nuclear weapons program.