An expert panel is looking at research into health effects for veterans who were present at nuclear tests and how it may impact on war pension decisions.
Veterans' Affairs Minister Judith Collins asked the new Expert Panel on Veterans' Health to look at the research into how New Zealand veterans who were present at nuclear tests in the Pacific were affected.
A spokesman said it was unrelated to, but a timely step, given a High Court decision in London last week clearing the way for military veterans from several countries including New Zealand to sue the British Ministry of Defence for radiation exposure during nuclear tests in the 1950s.
More than 500 New Zealand servicemen were exposed to a series of nuclear British atomic tests in the South Pacific in 1957 and 1958, code-named Operation Grapple.
New Zealand sailors said they were also exposed to radiation when the government sent the frigates Otago and Canterbury to Mururoa to draw world attention to French atmospheric nuclear testing.
In 2005 Massey University research found a small but significant level of genetic damage to the chromosomes of veterans who were exposed to nuclear explosions during Operation Grapple.
Ms Collins wanted the expert panel to look at research and recommend how it can be used in New Zealand war pension decisions.
"While the research by Massey University does not indicate the development of any specific service related disabilities, it is important that the expert panel has as much relevant information as possible when deciding on the future needs of these veterans," Ms Collins said.
The panel was set up in April to consider how to address veteran health issues.
Operation Grapple New Zealand veterans have been entitled to a compensatory life-long, tax-free War Disablement Pension since 1998.
There are 132 Operation Grapple veterans and 51 Mururoa veterans receiving the pension which covers medical care associated with a range of accepted disabilities - including many types of cancer.
There are 35 surviving partners of Operation Grapple veterans and three of Mururoa veterans getting Surviving Spouse Pensions.
