Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the review of the eligibility criteria for the Nuclear Test Medal was completed in time for Nuclear Test Veterans to receive their medal before Remembrance Day.

The review of Nuclear Test Medal eligibility was conducted at pace. The expanded qualifying criteria were ratified by the Honours and Decorations Committee and approved by His Majesty The King on 6 November 2024. Those who directly supported the American atmospheric tests, which were conducted in the same time period as the independent UK atmospheric tests (1952 – 1967), are therefore now eligible for the first time.

I had the pleasure of presenting the first Nuclear Test Medal, using the expanded eligibility criteria, on Thursday, 7 November 2024, to Squadron Leader Peters, one of the RAF pilots who took part in Operation BAGPIPES. The Ministry of Defence has written to the relatives of two other former RAF personnel, now deceased, who participated in the American tests to advise that their applications have now been approved, and medals have been dispatched.