Operation Deep Freeze The New Zealand Story

Have you served at McMurdo? – if so, this may be of interest. Last week a group of Antarctic Veteran ex-servicemen made representations both personally and by affidavit to a hearing of the Waitangi Tribunal’s Inquiry under the Treaty of Waitangi Act 1975 concerning Military Veterans Claims.

Their representations relate to the possible exposure of service personnel who served at McMurdo Station, Williams Field or Scott Base and may have been exposed to radiation from the PM-3A Nuclear power reactor, or contaminatedmaterial that was removed from the reactor site after closure in 1972.

The contention is that NZDF cargo teams and perhaps others accommodated at McMurdo (rather than Williams Field) between 1972 and 1988 may have been affected by some level of nuclear radiation from the leaking reactor in a number ofsituations depending upon their periods of service at McMurdo, such as:

The location of living quarters, and recreational facilities being within the“foot print” of radiation emitted from the reactor site;

Drinking water that had been desalinated by the reactor;

Using hot water for ablutions etc that was heated by the reactor;

Exposure to contaminated wind-blown dust and dirt;

ofrom the reactor site within the area of McMurdo Station;

ofrom open trucks transporting contaminated material from the reactor siteto the wharf-side stockpiles;

ofrom the wharf-side stockpiles whilst carrying out ship off loading andback loading operations;

owhilst working wharf-side during the loading of contaminated material intoships from transport from Antarctica; and

whilst working in the holds of the ship(s) during loading with contaminatedmaterial for shipping to the United States

To prepare for the next round of Tribunal hearings commencing early 2018 we need more specific evidence on veterans health concerns that may be related to the issue of nuclear exposure. To prepare for this the team are now seeking:

1.Who and when our service personnel served at McMurdo

2.Any issues they may have with any form of cancer

3.Any mention of exposure to radiation from their medical professionals

4.Are there any medical records available that can be passed to our legal team

If you have any information which may assist us please post a reply here with your contact details or email peterbreen79@gmail.com

THE NUCLEAR AGE IN ANTARCTICA