Ep 2. Lab Rats

Campaigners and nuclear descendants Steve Purse and Alan Owen join Jon and Susie to discuss the 70-year fight for the truth about what happened to their dads at the UK’s nuclear weapons tests. David Purse and James Owen served at the same time, but 4,000 miles apart - one at Christmas Island in the Pacific where he witnessed 24 hydrogen bombs in 78 days, and another in the Australian Outback at Maralinga, where scientists were testing what would happen if weapons were involved in an accident. Both share stories about family illness, bereavement and birth defects which they fear are connected to nuclear radiation, and the struggles they’ve had accessing their fathers’ medical records. Susie and Jon reveal a shocking document from the Merlin database which links their fathers’ experiences together for the first time.

All the historic documents shown onscreen or in credits are Crown copyright and likewise usable under open licence, with personal data redacted.