Mortality and cancer incidence 1952-1990 in UK participants in the UK atmospheric nuclear weapon tests and experimental programmes

To study long-term effects of participating in the United Kingdom's atmospheric nuclear weapon tests and experimental programmes which took place in Australia and the Pacific Ocean between 1952 and 1967, a total of 21,358 men who took part in the tests have been identified from archives of the Ministry of Defence and followed up to 1 January 1991. The mortality and incidence of cancer in these men were compared with those in 22,333 controls selected from the same archives. It is concluded that participant in the nuclear weapon testing programmes has not had a detectable effect on participants' expectation of life, or on their risk of developing cancer or other fatal diseases. (author)