The Compensation Scheme was started by British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL) and it's trades' unions in the light of experience gained from a small number of legal actions against the Company in the late 1970's. These cases related to BNFL employees who had died from cancer and the basis of the actions was that their cancers had been caused by occupational radiation exposure and the cases were supported by the claimants' trades' unions. In the aftermath of these cases, the Company and the unions recognised that the cases had been extremely lengthy (some had been ongoing for over 5 years), very stressful for the families of the claimants and very expensive for both sides in terms of legal costs and expert advice.

It was recognised by both sides, however, that the causation of cancer by radiation was now well-understood and that it should be possible to construct a scheme which would evaluate the probability that a diagnosed cancer may have been caused by radiation exposure at work. Such a scheme could provide the basis for an alternative to the normal legal process, but it was clear that to be accepted it would need to be quicker, more generous to the claimant and cheaper than the legal process.

Following further joint discussions, the Compensation Scheme for Radiation-Linked Diseases was established in November 1982 as a joint agreement between BNFL and its trades' unions which were (at the time) IPMS (now Prospect), GMB, TGWU, AEEU (now Amicus) and PCS. At first it accepted only mortality claims (i.e. claims where the subject had died from a radiation-linked disease), but this was revised in 1987 to allow morbidity claims. As a result of the success of the Scheme, it has expanded to include other nuclear employers and their trades' unions. In 1987 the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) joined, followed by Urenco (Capenhurst) Ltd, Magnox Electric, Nuclear Electric and Scottish Nuclear Ltd (SNL) in 1993, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) and the Atomic Weapons Establishment (AWE) in 1994, Devonport Royal Dockyard Ltd (DRDL) and Rosyth Royal Dockyard Ltd (RRD) in 1997 and Babcock Naval Services and GE Healthcare in 2005. With the expansion across the nuclear industry, other trades' unions have joined the Scheme and these are (or were at the time) EETPU and MSF (both now Amicus), UCATT, EMA (now Prospect), Unison, the First Division Association of Civil Servants and the AEA Constabulary Federation (now the Civil Nuclear Police Federation). For a full list of current Scheme Employers and participating Trades Unions, please go to the relevant section here

The Scheme works by taking claimant's radiation dose records (provided by the appropriate employer) and using this as a basis to assess the probability that the disease diagnosed has been caused by the degree of exposure received. Claimant's dose histories are compiled according to procedures agreed by the employees and the unions and include a number of generosities over and above the statutory legal record. The methods used to calculate the probability of causation also includes a number of generosities towards the claimant in the interpretation of uncertainties in the basic scientific understanding of the relationship between radiation exposure and the development of cancer. Finally, payments are awarded on a staged scale - the minimum level at which payment is awarded is a causation probability of 20%, whereas to be successful in court a probability of 50% would have to be found (courts call this "the balance of probabilities). Where cases are successful, the full value of the settlement is agreed by the employers' and unions' legal representatives (as it would be for a successful court case) and a proportion of this is paid, dependent on the causation probability assessed - if between 20 and 29.9%, one quarter of the full value is paid, between 30 and 39.9%, a half is paid, from 40 to 49.9% three-quarters is paid and for a causation probability of 50% or more, the full value is paid.

The Scheme is managed and operated by an independent Executive Secretary, whose job is to run the Scheme on behalf of all the participants, employers and unions alike. The Executive Secretary is responsible for the collation of all data relevant to each claim (although this is provided by the employer or union, as appropriate) and for the calculation of a causation probability for each eligible case. Once this has been done, the assessment data is sent to the union responsible for the case and they will, in turn, advise the claimant of the outcome.

The Scheme has now been operating for over 29 years and in this time has assessed 1540 cases and provided advice to many others not otherwise eligible for consideration. In all, 134 cases have received compensation payments, sharing a total of £7.34 million. The majority of these payments has been made at levels below the 50% causation probability and thus is not likely to have been successful if they had proceeded through the courts.

If you wish to make a claim under the Scheme, please go to the "Making a Claim" section.