Citation

Roff SR. Med. Conflict. Surviv. 1998; 14(2): 106-119.

Affiliation

University of Dundee Centre for Medical Education.

Copyright

(Copyright © 1998, Informa - Taylor and Francis Group)

DOI

10.1080/13623699808409382

PMID

9633267

Abstract

Radiobiological science has proceeded on empirical principles since health physics became a necessary professional adjunct to the military and civilian uses of nuclear energy in the aftermath of the detonations at Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This paper reviews the data which gradually emerged indicating that early assumptions about the detonation of atomic and nuclear weapons underestimated the significance of fallout, residual and induced radiation as health hazards. Many of these assumptions are being examined in three test cases concerning veterans of United Kingdom atomic and nuclear weapons tests heard by the European Court of Human Rights in November 1997.

Language: en