NRPB created a major epidemiological study to compare the health of those exposed with a similar sized group of personnel who were not exposed to radiation. Three statistical analyses have been conducted and reported since the 1980s, the most recent in 2003. 

Based on this work the HPA conclude that nuclear weapons test participants had, in general, a better life expectancy than members of the general UK population. When compared with the control group, the test participant group had similar overall patterns of mortality and cancer incidence indicating no significant cause for concern.

The statistical analyses also provided a slight indication that test participation may have caused a very small increased risk of leukaemia but there was not enough evidence to confirm this as a fact and there was evidence to suggest that this finding should be treated with caution.

Further information

• View frequently asked questions on this topic
• View the NRPB 2003 report 
• View a non-technical summary of that report
• View NRPB press releases issued at the of the 2003 report's publication NRPB Archive 2003 (PDF, 294 KB)
• Read HPA comments on New Zealand Nuclear Test Veterans' Study - a Cytogenetic AnalysisHPA comments on NZ cytogenetics study, 25 July 2007 (PDF, 35 KB)
• Find out more about radiation epidemiology 

• Nuclear Weapons Test Participants Study (NWTPS): questions and answers
  The Nuclear Weapons Test Participants Study (NWTPS) is a long-term follow up study of the health of UK personnel who were present at areas in Australia and the South Pacific Islands where the UK nuclear atmospheric weapons tests were conducted between 1952 and 1967.
  Added/updated: 10 February 2011