Independent research vital for truth

I REFER to Conor Kane and Veronica McDermott’s articles (October 8) in which they highlighted the results of new research, confirming fears that radioactive debris from the Windscale (now known as Sellafield) fire in 1957 may be twice as much as originally thought.

It has taken 50 years for this evidence to come to light.

In this week of the 50th anniversary of the fire, which was the world’s first major nuclear accident, the BBC Panorama programme Windscale: Britain’s Biggest Nuclear Disaster also made publicly available for the first time taped interviews with the technicians who bravely fought to avert a potential disaster.

The chain of events shown in the documentary laid down the hallmark where political expediency held sway over health and safety. Because of its quest for supremacy in the arms race, the British government suppressed the real story behind Windscale/Sellafield and compromised safety measures.

It’s a chilling comparison and reminder of the accident at the Chernobyl plant in 1986. Chernobyl is the parallel cover-up, where operators were also held responsible, some receiving prison sentences, while Moscow signed secret legislation ensuring the truth would never be told.

This week’s anniversary reminds us how important independent research is to reveal the truth behind disasters.

The full effects of the Chernobyl accident may never be known. However, 21 years after the disaster, it is clear it is far greater than official estimates. Nuclear scientists, physicists and the many authors of one of the most accessible reports on Chernobyl — The Other Report on Chernobyl (TORCH) — report that more than 40% of the total quantity of radiation was deposited on mainland Europe (68% of Ireland’s land mass was contaminated).

Included in the report were the findings of 1,000 previously ignored documents, revealing the sobering statistics — 30,000-60,000 excess cancer deaths predicted worldwide and predicted excess cases of thyroid cancer ranging between 18,000 and 66,000.

It has taken 50 years for the truth to be told about what happened on Sunday, October 6, 1957. But with Chernobyl, the survivors and future generations cannot afford to wait.

Adi Roche

Chernobyl Children’s Project International

Ballycurreen Industrial Estate

Kinsale Road

Cork