Fissionline 74

FISSIONLINE

ISSUE 74 Issue 74

The International Bulletin of Nuclear Victims

CIA REPORT EXPOSES UK BOMB TEST COVER-UP

DEC 2024 OCT 2025

Atomic Gulag: the town that dare not have children

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FISSIONLINE Time to tell the world about the greatest scandal of all The existence of s secret conclave of 2nd and 3rd generation victims of the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki is a real eye-opener.

These poor people have been fighting a lone battle for justice of decades yet the world at large is completely oblivious to their plight.

UK groups clamouring for justice for nuclear veterans and their offspring should reach out to their compatriots in South Korea to share experiences.

The common thread of atomic legacy that unites them, transcends borders and culture. It makes them uniquley qualified to confront the great evil that is the atomic bomb Yet the victims of Cold War nuclear bombings and nuclear power are unknown and unrecognised. Their voices have been deliberately suppressed and censored by governments terrified of the consequences of their actions.

Such groups are present in every country that has carried out nuclear tests. The descendents of Britain's nuclear veterans are ahead of the curve because hundreds of them have already got torgether to

share experiences.

But there are thousands more out there who are worried and afraid to confront a legacy almost too cruel to contemplate. It is high time they came forward and help confront those in power who have covered up their suffering for far too long.

As the evidence mounts, how long can the Government deny justice for the UK's nuclear veterans Our page three exposure of the CIA document detailing fallout levels from one H-bomb explosion, is just another example of UK Government lies and obfuscation.

For decades veterans have been assured that their illnesses could not have been caused by fallout because the huge Christmas Island megaton bombs were "clear" air bursts with no possibility of contamination.

This CIA document explodes that fallacy.

The fact it was produced by our closest ally, the United States, with high-level access to secret technical details of the bomb, makes it even more potent.

This document alone should be enough to force the Government to rethink its callous policy of denying nuclear veterans compensation for the suffering they have endured due to their participation in the bomb tests.

Fissionline is an independent newspaper with no political ties or affiliations. We provide a voice for all those suffering from the effects of radiation, to campaign for justice on their behalf, and to work for a better world free from nuclear weapons. If you want to support us, or have something to say, please contact the editor at

fissionline@gmail.com

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Damning CIA report exposing UK Government lies over H-Bomb test A CIA report has exposed British government lies that there was no fallout over Christmas Island from H-bomb test.

The delassified document states that at least one of the tests, codenamed Grapple X, exploded on December 8th, 1957, "was not free from radioactivity, as claimed by the British."

The UK has always insisted the tests were all "clean" air bursts that posed no contamination threat to thousands of troops stationed on the island.

The document also casts doubt on UK claims that Grapple X exploded with a force of 1.8 megatons.

According to American analysts who examined debris from the device, Grapple X was a massive three megatons, well above the two megaton safety range set by scientists to protect troops.

The Americans were impressed by the size of the blast however, stating that the test showed a "major improvement" over previous devices exploded earlier in the year.

The Macmillan Government hoped it would finally convince the Americans to share nuclear secrets, thus saving the cashstrapped British economy millions. But it would take at least one more H-bomb explosion, codenamed GrappleY to convince the Americans the UK was ready to join the exclusive megaton club.

Grapple X, was the first H-bomb exploded at Christmas Island, an isolated Pacific atoll 1,100 miles from Hawaii.

Three previous bombs (Grapple 1,2&3), were detonated near uninhabited Malden Island 400 miles to the south No troops were present on Malden Island for safety reasons. But to save money and beat pending international nuclear test ban deadlines, the government decided to explode Grapple X over Christmas Island where thousands of troops were stationed.

The military were under pressure from Whitehall who were insisting on a 'big bang' from British scientists after the earlier Grapple explosions had failed to meet the megaton range.

Some 4,000 troops were stationed on Christmas Island for the blast.

Many later suffered cancers and other illnesses which they blamed on radiation fallout.

But claims for compensation were dismissed after the Government insisted the weapon was exploded too high in the air to cause contamination.

Eyewitnesses have spoken of the huge force of the blast which bowled men over and caused widespread damage to native huts, tents and planes. Derek Chappell, a young RAF signalman, was in a radio van some 20 miles from the blast. He said: "It was huge.

The blast was so great it left an imprint of a palm tree on the side of the van." *Sadly Derek died earlier this year after a long battle with blood disease.

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TRAPPED IN THE ATOMIC GULAG Mourners at Hapcheon Peace House for second-generation atomic bomb survivors

Hidden away in a remote valley in the

mountains of South Korea is a unique community that has been condemned to a life of shameful anonymity.

Unrecognised by its government, shunned by the outside world, it is a place where people deny their birthright and women are afraid to have babies.

It is a place that has literally been poisoned by events that took place in another time and another place of which they played no part.

Welcome to Hapcheon County, South Gyeongsang, a mountainous province almost entirely made up of second generation victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Their Korean parents were caught up in the devastating attacks while working as slave labour in mines and munitions factories used to fuel Japan's war machine.

Forty thousand of the estimated 70,000 slave workers were wiped out at a stroke and many of the remaining 30,000 were stricken by radiation diseases.

But unlike the Japanese 'hibakusha', survivors who received aid when the war was over, the

Koreans went unrecognised by either the Americans or the new Japanese government.

Homeless and disenfranchised they fled to their homeland only to find themselves shunned by locals who feared they could pass on plaguelike diseases.

They eventually took refuge in the remote Hapcheon province in the far north west where they set up their own township.

Their inheritance of radiation exposure after effects only came to public attention in 2002 when local man Kim Hyeong-ryul revealed that he was a “second -generation atomic bomb survivor” who was suffering from an incurable condition known as congenital immunoglobulin deficiency disease. Kim died on May 29, 2005, at the age of 35. Kim Hyeong-ryul’s parents had been living in Hiroshima when it was bombed. Fortunately, they both survived the blast.

Kim established the Association for the Second Generation of Korean Atomic Bomb Survivors as an organization for other victims in a similar situation.Kim aimed to gain official recognition of the hereditary transmission of effects from atomic bomb exposure.

5 In 2013, South Gyeongsang Province surveyed that she hailed from one of the blasted cities.

244 children of atomic bomb victims living in So a massive cover-up of the true the province. They found 34 of them, or consequences of the atomic bombings has been 13.9%, suffering from congenital allowed to take root and Governments abnormalities or hereditary diseases. carefully cultivate those roots so that the And despite promises by both the South dreadful seeds can never reach fruition.

Korean and the Japanese government to ‘look Japan’s government as recently as 2019 again’ at the problem there has been little ruthlessly closed down legal attempts by a enthusiasm to do so. It has become just another group of second generation survivors, known taboo subject in the ever-more murky world of as Hibakusha-nisei, to force the government to the long-term recognise them. effects of Similarly the radiation.

UK Government As of the end refuses to of 2019, acknowledge or 2,100 Aeven recognise Bomb the plight of survivors hundreds of were still children and alive, with an grandchildren of average age British nuclear of 81. veterans who Science have suffered a recognises pitiful catalogue that when of diseases.

DNA is Claims by the damaged by veterans that the Hapcheon town square radiation the diseases are deleterious direct result of health consequences can be passed on down their exposure to fallout at the bomb tests have the generations. fallen on deaf ears with the UK Government But the implications are so dire that citing controversial statistical studies as governments are too afraid to recognise it and evidence the men were not exposed to scientists are encouraged not to delve too radiation. deeply. Japanese culture, too, has aided and But with evidence to the contrary mounting all abetted in this. Hiroshima and Nagasaki the time, with fresh legal claims being made in inhabitants not near enough to be directly Japan who knows how long the UK affected left the area and kept secret their Government will be able to keep the lid on the attachments. A woman expecting to marry scandal. would never find a partner if it became known

Kim Hyeong-ryul

South Korean survivors of the atomic bomb and their supporters in Hiroshima

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Derek ChappelL: one of the giants of the nuclear veteran movement

Derek Chappell was one of life's good guys. His kindness and humanity shone through to whomever met him, and he never had a bad word to say about anyone.

As Chairman of the East Anglian branch of the British nuclear Tests Veterans' Association he was one of the giants of the nuclear veteran community.

His branch was one of the biggest and most important of the veterans' organisation; it included many members who had crewed the bombers and flew through the mushroom clouds.

In 2013 Derek led a revolt against the main BNTVA organisation which had decided to go in a different direction to what the original association had been set up for, which was to campaign for

justice.

The new organisation opted for appeasing the Ministry of Defence by not joining in legal actions against the government. This led to Derek's branch being referred to in disparaging terms by 'Head Office' who dismissed the Anglian branch as among other things, 'A bunch of Sunday afternoon revolutionaries."

But Derek and his branch were unmoved. They were a deeply patriotic lot and and loathe to openely criticicise the government. But deep in their bones they knew their cancers and other illnesses were caused by exposure to radiation.

Derek, himserlf developed a blood disease that has been linked to radiation exposure Sadly Derak passed away after a long illness just before Christmas last and it was fitting that the staff and many others lined the corridor of his nursing home to applaud the commencment of his final journey.

His son Paul in a moving teribute said: "I am so glad that you were able to see, enjoy, celebrate and appreciate dad whom we slowly lost through dementia. He was still in there, somewhere, until the end, when a wink or a smile would tell us that all was well with him...."

Derek and wife Diane (pictured) returned to Christmas Island with other Norfolk veterans and later wrote movingly of his experiences Rest In Peace Derek, my friend. I'll miss you.

Alan Rimmer

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TRIBUNAL FURY OVER SECRET LEUKAEMIA BLOOD TEST ON NUCLEAR BOMB SOLDIER A pension tribunal they were far from happy with reacted with fury the decision. And it made when it was disclosed particular reference to the lack that secret blood tests of medical evidence supplied by were carried out on a the MoD. young soldier who In a written submission it said: witnessed nuclear "It is astonishing and disturbing bomb tests in the that on 30 6 1958 (about seven 1950s. months after the detonation) the It said it was, Appellant was admitted to "astonishing and hospital and tested for leukaemia disturbing" that the and yet apparently no further soldier was admitted information is available...In to hospital and tested particular, no reason for the Christmas Island Veteran Phil Munn for leukaemia with no admission is given, no reason as reason given. to why leukaemia was suspected is given and the The tribunal heard that Sapper Phil Munn was sent specialist's report is not available. We can only to Christmas Island for the Grapple X H-Bomb test regard such a situation as quite unsatisfactory..." in November 1957. He was stationed along with Phil, who has now sadly died, later received a war 4,000 servicemen some 25 miles from the huge pension after the rules were relaxed. But he never blast did find out why he was tested for leukaemia.

At the time Pte Munn appeared to suffer no ill In an interview at the time he said: "As far as I am effects and was sent home six months later, just concerned this is the clearest proof yet that we were before the next H-bomb test, apparently unscathed. used as nuclear guinea pigs. Why else would they However for reasons that were never explained to test me for leukaemia? him he was sent to the Netley military hospital in Southsmpton and kept there for a week for medical checkups which included blood tests for leukaemia.

In later life Phil developed leukeamia which he claimed was caused by his service on Christmas Island. But Phil, from Glasgow, was turned down when he made an application for a war pension in 1982.

He appealed against the decision before a tribunal in Edinburgh but was again turned down after the Ministry of Defence said his leukaemia was of a type not linked to radiation exposure, and he had received no radioactive fallout from the bomb.

But the tribunal made it clear

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FISSIONLINE FOUNDING FATHERS Ken McGinley

Archie Ross

Mike Dolyle

Derek Chappell

PRIME MINISTER Keir Starmer has agreed to meet campaigners for Britain’s nuclear veterans who want compensation.

But it's an uphill task as globetrotting Starmer is an enthusiastic cheerleader for a new nuclear building programme “to grow the economy and deliver cleaner, more affordable energy”.

And of course he will not want to upset his mentor and de facto PM of this country, Tony Blair. Blair’s money-spinning ‘Blair foundation’ is openly and rigorously in favour of nuclear power.

Starmer is not going to upset the apple cart by tacitly admitting that radiation caused, among other things, deformities in children of nuclear veterans.

The sad fact is the most that can be expected from him is a heap of platitudes and a promise to seek further evidence.

It is a familiar path. The predecessors of the current crop of energetic campaigners opted to be appeased by a few million pounds in charitable cash to help ‘aged veterans’ in need.

But even that weasely compromise was contingent on the veterans agreeing to stop campaigning or take part in any litigation against the government.

There have recently been two well-receieved TV documentaries exposing the injustices the nuclear veterans have endured over the years They followed decades of exposiure by

FROM THE BUNKER

Roy Sefton

Albert Isaksen Mike Rubery

fissionline and others, of government wrongdoing and lies over the nuclear tests.

But the plight of 87-yr-old nuclear veterans complaining of injuries incurred 65 years ago, has unfortunately not been enough to bring about a furious 'Mr Bates' outrage among the populace.

It's time to stop raking over the embers of the past and look to the impact those far off events have had today.

The physical and psychological injuries inflicted on the offspring of nuclear victims all over the world should be the focus.

The undeniable fact is that radiation from bomb tests and nuclear power stations has polluted the human gene pool and is the cause of many of the ailments currently afflicting mankind.

The hideous cover-up of the genetic effects of radiation started in the ashes of Hiroshima and continues today. It is is the greatest scandal of our age. It is the only cause worth fighting for.

Trump the Redeemer At the risk of upsetting the rabid wokarati of the left, and those suffering from advanced stages of TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome), we are writing to President Donald Trump to ask him to support our cause by brokering a deal that would eventually lead to a worldwide ban on nuclear weapons.

Ambitious? Maybe. But you never know the old rogue might just be attracted to the idea.

And let's face it he's the only world leader with the cojonies to carry it off. We'll let you know!