Ex-Canadian soldiers to be compensated for A-tests

Hundreds of former Canadian soldiers will receive compensation for being assigned to participate in atomic bomb test explosions by the U.S. and British militaries in the 1960s, the Defense Ministry said Tuesday.

Defense Minister Peter MacKay said the soldiers were involved in operations in the United States, Australia and the South Pacific from the end of World War II until the international treaty banning atmospheric test explosions was signed in 1963.

Canada's government will also compensate former military personnel who assisted with emergency decontamination efforts at the Chalk River nuclear plant in Ontario following two major nuclear reactor accidents in 1952 and 1958, MacKay said.

In total, 900 former soldiers or families of deceased veterans will receive payments of $22,000 each, Mackay said.