New Zealand soldiers who served in Antarctica between the 1960s and 1970s near a leaky nuclear power plant are now living in fear they will get cancer.
A month after a leak in the cooling unit of the American plant at McMurdo Station was discovered, the US Navy decommissioned the site, according to Stuff.
The plant had 438 documented safety problems and 9000 cubic metres of soil around the site had to be removed for fear of contamination.
Paul Williscroft was among the soldiers ordered to shovel the contaminated soil in 1979.
He told Stuff the soil was carried in open dump trucks through McMurdo town and was stockpiled at the wharf into the open hold of a ship.
"We had zero [protective gear], I would swear that on a stack of bibles," Mr Williscroft told Stuff.
An estimated 600 New Zealanders visited Scott Base-McMurdo Station during the period, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT)
Pentagon documents which analysed the radiation from the site concluded the risk of disease from exposure was "low".
However Ray Vincent, a New Zealander serving at Scott Base, has since been diagnosed with two rare types of cancer.
The former DSIR science technician is cured of one type and is receiving treatment for the second.
He notified MFAT of his health issues in an attempt to find others at the base with related health issues.
An advisory notice was posted on five official websites including Antarctica NZ and the New Zealand Defence Force.
The notice advised veterans to contact the New Zealand office of Radiation Safety, but recommends they contact their doctor in the first instance.
Three New Zealanders have been in touch.
Veterans are calling for New Zealand soldiers who served at the base to receive "medallic recognition" and for health matters relating to the site to be investigated further.
Newshub.
