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The radiation exposure at the A-Bomb test sites

and health of Mr Gwilym Pritchard

Supplementary report Sept 8th 2009

Dr Chris Busby

Castle CottageAberystwyth

SY231DZ

Background

On 8th Dec 2008 I provided an account of my expert opinion in the matter of the

 pensions tribunal appeal by Mrs Dawn Pritchard against a refusal to provide a war 

widows pension in respect of her husband Gwilym Pritchard whose death she

 believed to have been caused or partly caused by exposure to radioactive fission-

 product fallout and uranium whilst he was stationed at Christmas Island.

The Tribunal reference is: ENT/00039/2008; NINO YB720872B as far as I candetermine from the handwritten document.

In early 2009 I received a letter which informed me of the decision taken by the

tribunal on 18 March, a meeting which unfortunately I was unable to attend and give

 personal evidence before. The appeal had been adjourned and I was asked to provide

details of my availability and also to provide some answers to two specific questions

asked by the tribunal. This is did, but unfortunately the letter I sent seems to have

gone astray and so I am providing this short supplementary report to cover these

questions.

The questions were:

5. Dr Busby should be asked to provide a supplementary report explaining the

observations he makes in para 10 of the report with particular reference to the

comment that “the peculiar damage to the kidneys is easily explained”.

6. Dr Busby may wish in so doping to comment on the relationship between his

opinion and the post mortem report.

Response

1. My arguments and supporting evidence, principally from my analysis of the AE

Oldbury report on the airport contamination at Christmas Island in 1963, that the main

contaminant was Uranium, mainly U238 in terms of mass. The uranium will have

 been part of the bombs employed, used a reflector, and as fuel. The uranium dust and

oxide particulates in the atmosphere will have been resuspendable and respirable and

the concentration significantly higher than those high concentrations found by

Oldbury some five years after the last bomb had been tested. The veterans stationed

nearby will have been exposed through inhalation and ingestion. None of this

exposure will have been detected by the film badges employed on those wearing them

since the material is not a gamma emitter.

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2. One of the main targets for uranium is the kidney. Part II of the Royal Society

Report The Health Hazards of depleted Uranium Munitions (RS2002) states:

 It is well established, from animal studies, and from human exposures, that the kidney

is the organ most susceptible to the toxic effects of uranium. . . the chronic levels of 

kidney uranium that lead to minor kidney dysfunction in humans are not well 

established but are considered to be at least ten-fold less than the value of 3micrograms uranium per gram kidney that has often been used as the basis for 

occupational exposure limits.

3. These statements are based upon mean kidney concentrations of soluble uranium

and cannot be applied to exposure to sub-micron or nanoparticle uranium of the kind

 produced when pure uranium burns or in air, the type produced by nuclear weapons

which are mostly made of uranium metal. The local high molecular concentration

near such particles would have more harmful effect to local organelles or membranes

where such particles lodged.

4. If such particles were being excreted by the kidneys, they would necessarily findthere way into the filtration system where they would a priori be expected to cause

significant damage by three mechanisms:

• Alpha particle radiation damage

• Photoelectron damage from background radiation amplification

• Chemical toxic effects on DNA and enzymes

5. It would therefore be expected that there would be kidney damage in an individual

exposed to such uranium. IgA nephropathy (Bergers disease) was apparently

diagnosed in 1996. Prior to this and following service Mr Pritchard had developed

diabetes. His death was from pneumonia following various consequences of kidneydisease. IgA nephropathy has no known cause but it is biologically plausible to

 postulate that inflammation of the kidney and urinary system following acute/chronic

exposure to uranium nanoparticles and molecular uranium would result in

immunological responses related to activation of mucosal defenses and IgA antibody

 production.

6. The post mortem results describe an individual who has suffered the long term

consequences of kidney damage and diabetes.

7. In my first report I drew attention to the wide range of illnesses found in those

exposed to radioactivity and referred the tribunal to tables in ECRR2003 where it isseen that the conditions suffered by Mr Pritchard are also risk elevated in Chernobyl

victims and those of the Japanese A-Bomb. All the conditions suffered by the late Mr 

Pritchard are also found in nuclear workers according to a study of workers at British

 Nuclear Fuels recently published in the International Journal of Epidemiology

(McGohegan et al 2008). In this study of non cancer mortality in 6500 individuals

employed by BNFL between 1946 and 2002 the authors found statistically significant

excess risks of diabetes, Circulatory diseases, Ischaemic heart diseases,

cerebrovascular diseases and respiratory diseases in the nuclear workers despite there

 being a pronounced “healthy worker effect”.

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8. A man who brought the war home with him.

The high levels of cancer in Bosnia after the Balkan war has been referred to by me

elsewhere. There was a sharp increase in cancer and leukemia/lymphoma recorded by

the Sarajevo cancer registry. I have ascribed the cause to the heavy use of uranium

weapons. These were believed to be depleted uranium weapons. However, more

recent work by me in the Lebanon and Gaza has showed the presence of enricheduranium in air filters. (Busby UN 2009). Mr Pritchard was exposed to enriched

uranium from the fallout at Christmas Island. A very interesting and relevant paper 

was recently published in The Lancet (Ballardie et al 2008). The authors were able to

show that their patient had been exposed to environmental (enriched) uranium and

was suffering from a range of serious symptoms, including high levels of IgE and IgA

 proteins. I attach a copy of this important and relevant paper.

9. I am sorry that once again I am unable to appear at the tribunal. Although I did say

in May that this week in September would be clear, my appointments fill up and I was

only informed of this date about a week before it happened. By this time I have

agreed to go to Latvia where I have other research commitments. I hope that I have been able to respond to the questions of the tribunal satisfactorily, and would be

happy to appear before the tribunal if a date can be agreed.

Chris Busby

Sept 7th 20089

Busby C (2009) Depleted Uranium. Why all the Fuss? Geneva: United Nations

UNIDIR  www.unidir .org/bdd/fiche-article.php?ref_article=2755

Mg Goghegan D, Binks K, Gillies M, Jones S and Whaley S (2008) International

Journal of Epidemiology 37 506-518

The Lancet , Volume 372, Issue 9653, Pages 1926-1926

F. Ballardie, R. Cowley, A. Cox, A. Curry, H. Denley, J. Denton, J. Dick, J.

Guerquin-Kern, A. Redmond (2008) A man who brought the war home with him. The

Lancet 372 1926