Decades of nuclear tests linked to 4 mn premature deaths globally, report says

A new report warns that nuclear weapons testing between 1945 and 2017 has left a deadly legacy affecting people around the world, contributing to at least four million premature deaths from cancer and other illnesses, according to Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA). The findings highlight how explosions from more than 2,400 tests spread radioactive fallout that continues to pose health risks decades later.

The report, shared with Agence France-Presse, says the impact of past nuclear tests isn’t just historical — it’s ongoing. Even people far from test sites carry traces of radiation in their bodies, which may have long-term consequences for health.

‘They poisoned us,’ survivors say

Voices from affected communities paint a grim picture of the human cost of nuclear testing. “They poisoned us,” said Hinamoeura Cross, a Tahitian parliamentarian who was seven years old when France detonated its last nuclear device near her home in French Polynesia in 1996.

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Cross grew up watching family members battle cancer. Seventeen years after that test, she was diagnosed with leukaemia, and other relatives suffered from thyroid cancer, illustrating the personal toll of radioactive fallout that drifted across islands and entered food chains.

Ongoing health risks and scientific evidence

Co-author Tilman Ruff, a public health expert and co-founder of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, underscored the seriousness of the radiation threat. “The risks that radiation poses are really much greater than previously thought,” he told AFP, stressing that even low doses of ionising radiation can be biologically harmful.

The report explains that fallout from atmospheric testing — which carried radioactive particles through the air and across continents — is linked to cancers and cardiovascular diseases. Experts estimate that atmospheric tests alone are expected to eventually cause millions of additional deaths from conditions like cancer, heart attacks and strokes.

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“Every person alive today carries radioactive isotopes from atmospheric testing in their bones,” said co-author Magdalena Stawkowski, a University of South Carolina anthropology professor.

Despite the scale of the impact, the report criticises a long-standing culture of secrecy among countries that conducted nuclear tests, saying limited access to data has left affected communities without clear answers or adequate support. Many studies on health and environmental effects remain classified, and radioactive waste locations are still undisclosed in some regions.

The authors urge stronger global resolve to prevent future testing and to address the lingering harm nuclear tests have caused, a message that resonates even as some governments debate the idea of resuming nuclear testing.