Page 18 - CAMPAIGN Winter 2021

16
CAMPAIGN Winter 2021
At the time of the British nuclear tests and radiation clean-ups from 1952-1967 this term had not been constructed. However, it sums up the effect nuclear bombs have had on the British nuclear test veterans perfectly, shown in hundreds of accounts of their experiences in the BNTVA’s archives. Jones (2020) describes the distress individuals feel when they witness “an act that transgresses their core ethical values... In moral injury individuals commonly feel at the mercy of events, constrained by an overarching strategy or hierarchical rules that govern their actions.” Moral injury is a term often associated with war zones; Moreover, this term adequately covers a transgressive act such as “military attributable service” on this
occasion.
The men had been volunteered as test participants (observers) rather than giving informed consent to volunteer as part of a full-scale British experiment. The sight, sound and all-around experience of a nuclear bomb detonation causes a scalable traumatic injury which permeates every human sense (Collett et al. 2020). In the case of moral injury this results in a long-term effect for individuals, a stigma for the participants of feeling different to other people and of being treated differently. This culminates in a mental rigour, comparative to the experience of the military drone operators during Operation Shader.
The drone operators carried out a harrowing day job and returned to their families and normal life after daily work. The transition of this abstract situation contributed to their mental rigour and the inability to converse about their experiences with loved ones. This is similar to the nuclear test participants, who were
sworn to secrecy concerning the nuclear tests yet underwent traumatic experiences associated with witnessing nuclear fission of up to 7.7 megatons. On return from the tests, personnel were not allowed to share their troubling experiences with friends or family.
Williamson et al. (2021) and Jones (2020) define moral injury as, “guilt, shame, intrusive thoughts and self-condemnation.” Participants of the British nuclear tests exhibit these negative attributes to this day, in a similar way to service personnel who have experienced heavy combat conditions against a physical enemy.
Conclusion
In summary, the British nuclear test participants were “volunteered” to endure morally injurious traumatic events developed by the British Empire in response to external threats. Their involvement in the nuclear testing far exceeded normal daily duties in an extremely challenging environment. These experiments tested effects of radioactive chemical materials on personnel; There were so many unknowns and possible outcomes, including many radiation incidents due to ineffective dosimeters and other equipment, lack of protective clothing and meteorological changes. Personnel were participants in a scientific study, many wearing their shorts and sandals at the time of fission, with the only consent given as either signing up or being conscripted to military service.
Bergman et al. (2021) report that the earlier the age of signing up to serve in the military, the more severe an impact on mental health. This is relevant as many nuclear test participants were still teenagers at the time of the nuclear tests, with
thousands having been conscripted into National Service. They, along with their colleagues, had been volunteered to attend the nuclear tests, rather than volunteer themselves, and experience a great deal of both the risk and rigour involved in witnessing a nuclear explosion “with and without protection” whilst living and working in very challenging conditions. Many of the HMS Diana crew were young National servicemen who were told that they were “volunteered” for Operation Mosaic whilst in Singapore, not long before leaving for the Montebello Islands – there was no opt out.
This application is not about the actual radiation readings that were and were not recorded from the personnel involved, but rather about the risk, and physical and mental rigour associated with enduring the detonation of multiple nuclear experiments at close quarters. This triggered ‘exposure worry’ in many veterans from the time of the tests (Collett et al. 2020). The risk and rigour demonstrated in this application is due to the service given by these participants rather than by adversarial combat, conflict or pathogen.
This opens the topic of a transgressive act of moral injury within service for the British nuclear test participants, and the invitation of a medal to recognise the service of the participants – the services personnel, scientists and civilians who took part in protecting the Empire.
These personnel are the very reason that a nuclear deterrent became a reality, that NATO was strengthened, and a Third World War averted.