Study finds high cancer levels among Mururoa navy veterans

Health problems linked to nuclear weapons testing may also be hereditary, research shows

University of Otago researchers have found concerning levels of cancer among New Zealand navy crews who witnessed French nuclear weapons testing in the southern Pacific Ocean in the early 1970s.

The health study involved 83 navy veterans, with 37 per cent shown to be suffering from cancers that included non-Hodgkin lymphoma, melanomas, prostate cancer and leukaemia. Most of these participants were aged from 65 to 74 years.