For decades, the Ministry of Defence has relied on dosimeter readings using standard dosimeters carried by the man. New evidence shows that these are inaccurate and the dosages received to certain parts of the body are considerably higher.
Report No. T 11/57 - Operation Buffalo
Before we start this blog, this document has been removed from the National Archives by the Ministry of Defence for a 'Security Review'.
The report starts with a summary of the purpose of the study:
"Measurements are described to determine the doses to the vital
organs of the body of a man walking in protective clothing over ground contaminated by fission products after an atomic explosion. These doses are compared with those measured on the standard dosimeter carried by the man."
The distribution list includes many scientists and the declassification officer.
The Ministry of Supply is also informed of the report, as is the Admiralty, the Army Council, the Air Ministry and the Home Office as well as the Medical Research Council (MRC).
An attempt was made to answer the question as to how accurate the dose recorded by the dosimeter actually was. An experiment was carried out at Operation Buffalo.
A 'standard' man was constructed out of wood. (5ft 11 and 160lb in weight). Dosimeters were placed at various positions replicating that of the organs of the body. The dummy was then given full protective clothing. (Something that the human participants were lacking)
It was then placed in a firing area known to be contaminated with fission products (just pause there, known to be contaminated) until it had received a dose of about 300 millirep.
Results
Results for two rounds were documented:
Report Conclusions
The dosimeters record the dose to the organs in the upper half of the body satisfactorily, but intestines and testicles receive about 40% more than that recorded on the dosimeters normally worn. A difference between the readings of the PM1 film and the dosimeter is commonly found.
Conclusion
So this report dated 8th March 1957 showed that the dosimeter readings were inaccurate and that the lower part of the body, including the intestines and testicles received up to 40% more dose than was recorded.
Many servicemen reported that they returned from the testing program sterile, unable to have children. Many servicemen reported miscarriages, children born with deformities. If the dose received to the testicles was potentially 40% higher, what effect did this have?
To-date no research has been carried out on the sterility of the veterans, no research into the miscarriages (apart from Mortality and morbidity of members of the British Nuclear Tests Veterans Association and the New Zealand Nuclear Tests Veterans Association and their families carried out by Su Rabbit Rolf in 1999 -
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10467894/) which stated:
"Among the nearly 5,000 children and grandchildren of this group of more than a thousand veterans, there are 26 cases of spina bifida alone--more than five times the usual rate for live births in the UK. Nearly half the health problems among the offspring of the nuclear weapons tests veterans reported in this study consist of the same dermatological, musculoskeletal and gastrointestinal conditions from which many of the men have also suffered. Among the 2,261 children of 1,041 veterans, more than 200 skeletal abnormalities were reported, including more than 30 cases of short stature and 18 spinal problems, mostly curvature and scoliosis. More than 100 skin conditions were reported, mostly eczema and dermatitis, in many cases described as congenital. Over 50 of the children are already suffering from arthritis and similar conditions, although they are only now entering their thirties. Hip deformities were reported for 19 children and kneecap deformities for 14. More than 100 of the veterans' children reported reproductive difficulties; 24 women reported problems with their ovaries."
The MOD response to this report? It was dismissed as it was a self reporting study.
The 2007 Massey Study reported that the DNA of the New Zealand Test Veterans had been altered, we produced a blog on the report:
This was peer reviewed and published in scientific journals, but again has been dismissed by the Ministry of Defence.
These findings were published before Operation Grapple (May 1957 - September 1958) yet the servicemen still flew through the cloud, sampling. They still washed down aircraft, they still went into contaminated areas. The dosimeters were useless, the UK Government knew about it and did nothing.
And whilst we are on the subject of doing nothing, this report was sent to the Veterans Minister, Mr Johnny Mercer MP in January this year and he has done nothing! Not even bothered to reply. We will keep sending posting documents as we receive them and we will keep the Veterans Minister informed of every one.