Atomic veteran

Atomic veterans are military veterans who were exposed to ionizing radiation during their active service. The global cohort includes thousands of American servicemen who took part in atmospheric nuclear tests (1945-1962) and servicemen from the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, France and Russia who were similarly exposed during their active duties. It also includes veterans who were stationed in the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the American occupation of Japan before 1946 (including certain veterans who were prisoners of war there).

The Defense Threat Reduction Agency's Nuclear Test Personnel Review has maintained a database of participants and radiation dose reconstructions since 1978. Dose reconstructions are used by the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to evaluate and decide veterans' claims filed under the provisions of Public Law (PL) 98-542 and implementing regulations in Title 38 of the Code of Federal Regulations, part 3.311.

John Smitherman, was a navy pilot involved in the 1946 Bikini Atoll nuclear explosions, which resulted in extensive radioactive contamination of the area. Cancer of the lymphatic system, and two leg amputations, resulted for Smitherman, who became president of the National Association of Atomic Veterans. Smitherman featured in Robert Stone's documentary film Radio Bikini, which was nominated for an Academy Award in 1988.

A formal investigation of the radiation exposure these veterans received, as well as radiation experiments conducted on humans, was initiated in 1994, by former President Bill Clinton, who apologized for their treatment in 1995. "In 1996, the U.S. Congress repealed the Nuclear Radiation Secrecy Agreement Act, which rescinded the Atomic Veteran “oath-of-secrecy”, thus allowing Atomic-Veterans the opportunity to recount stories of their participation in Nuclear weapon testing and post test event activities, without legal penalty. By this time,however, many thousands of Atomic Veterans, the majority of whom were afflicted with a host of radiation induced health issues, such as cancer, had taken that “secret” with them, to their graves.

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