PRESS RELEASE

Ministers Must Come Clean over Nuclear Workers' Autopsies

18 April 2007: for immediate release

CND today called for government ministers to come clean over reports that body parts of deceased nuclear workers were removed without authorisation for medical examination. Body parts were taken from workers at Sellafield, the Aldermaston Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) and other nuclear sites run by British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL).

Both Sellafield and AWE have played integral roles in Britain’s nuclear weapons programme over the past half century.

Kate Hudson, Chair of CND, said:

‘The unauthorised removal of body parts over a 30 year period reveal another deadly aspect of Britain’s nuclear weapons programme: the severe health risks faced by nuclear weapons manufacturers. The families of those workers irradiated at Sellafield, Aldermaston and other nuclear facilities, as well as the public who funded such work, deserve answers about why the body parts were removed and what medical examiners found as a result.’

‘Nuclear weapons not only threaten the lives of millions of people if used in combat, but also have grave effects on the health and lives of those who construct them.’

end

Notes to Editor:

1. For further information and interviews please contact Rick Wayman, CND's Press & Communications Officer, on 0207 7002350 or 07968 420859
2.The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) is one of Europe’s biggest single-issue peace campaigns, with over 35,000 members in the UK. CND campaigns for the abolition of all nuclear weapons everywhere. www.cnduk.org

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