Babies' bones used in nuclear studies

Bone samples from the bodies of dead babies were shipped to the United States and Britain to be tested for radioactive fallout as part of an Australian Government programme, officials in Sydney said today.

The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (Arpansa) said that from 1957 to 1978 Australia operated a programme to measure levels of strontium 90 radioactive fallout in humans by testing corpses.