‘Poisoned Us’: Nuclear Tests Between 1945 And 2017 Behind 4 Million Premature Deaths, Report Finds

Last Updated:January 22, 2026, 10:45 IST

According to the report, the health, social and ecological damage caused by nuclear testing has been widespread and enduring.

Hundreds of thousands of people worldwide are believed to have already died from diseases linked to past nuclear weapons testing | Representative Image

Decades of nuclear weapons testing have left a deadly and lasting imprint on humanity, contributing to an estimated four million premature deaths worldwide, according to a new report that documents the long-term human, environmental, and health costs of atomic explosions.

Between 1945 and 2017, more than 2,400 nuclear devices were detonated in tests carried out across the globe.

While only North Korea has conducted such tests since the 1990s, the report warns that the consequences of earlier detonations continue to unfold, affecting every person alive today.

The findings, compiled by Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) and shared exclusively with AFP, detail how radiation released during decades of testing has been linked to cancers, cardiovascular disease, genetic damage and other serious illnesses—often manifesting long after the explosions themselves.

“They poisoned us," said Hinamoeura Cross, a Tahitian lawmaker who was seven years old when France carried out its final nuclear test near her home in French Polynesia in 1996.

Seventeen years later, she was diagnosed with leukaemia, joining several close family members who had already suffered from thyroid cancer.

According to the report, the health, social and ecological damage caused by nuclear testing has been widespread and enduring.

Yet many affected communities remain without clear answers, in part due to decades of secrecy, limited data and insufficient international engagement.

“Past nuclear testing continues to kill today," NPA secretary general Raymond Johansen said, expressing hope the report would strengthen global resolve to prevent any future use or testing of nuclear weapons.

The issue has taken on renewed urgency following comments by US President Donald Trump late last year suggesting the United States could resume nuclear testing—claims that Russia and China have rejected.

Experts warn that reopening the door to testing would be extremely dangerous.

“The consequences are long-lasting and severe," said Ivana Hughes of Columbia University and the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, who contributed to the report.

“The nuclear testing era shows us just how deep and persistent the harm can be."

Communities living near test sites, now spread across 15 countries, many of them former colonies, have borne the heaviest burden.

Survivors continue to face higher rates of illness, birth defects and psychological trauma, often with limited access to healthcare or screening.

But the report stresses that the impact is global. “Every person alive today carries radioactive isotopes from atmospheric testing in their bones," said co-author Magdalena Stawkowski, an anthropology professor at the University of South Carolina.

The study cites strong scientific evidence linking radiation exposure, even at low doses, to DNA damage, cancer and cardiovascular disease.

Atmospheric nuclear tests conducted up to 1980 alone are projected to cause at least two million excess cancer deaths over time, along with a similar number of early deaths from heart attacks and strokes, according to Tilman Ruff, another report co-author and a public health expert at the University of Melbourne.

“There is no safe level of exposure," Ruff said, noting that ionising radiation is especially harmful to foetuses and young children.

Women and girls, the report adds, are significantly more susceptible to radiation-related cancers than men and boys.

A recurring theme in the report is a persistent culture of secrecy among nuclear-armed states. In places such as Kiribati and Algeria, key studies and information about radioactive contamination remain classified, preventing communities from fully understanding the risks they face or seeking proper redress.

No nuclear-armed country has formally apologised for its testing programmes, the report notes, and compensation schemes, where they exist, often prioritise limiting state liability over adequately supporting victims.

In French Polynesia, Cross said she grew up learning only about the supposed economic benefits of France’s nuclear programme.

She later discovered that Paris had carried out 193 nuclear explosions there between 1966 and 1996, including blasts far more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb.

“These weren’t just tests. They were real bombs," she said, accusing authorities of treating local populations as “guinea pigs".

Similar trauma is echoed elsewhere. The report highlights the 1954 US “Bravo" test at Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, which was hundreds of times more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb and exposed nearby communities to intense radioactive fallout.

News world ‘Poisoned Us’: Nuclear Tests Between 1945 And 2017 Behind 4 Million Premature Deaths, Report Finds

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