It is no surprise that Frank Turvey, a keen advocate of nuclear power, should trot out the tired old myth that an obscenely large increase in thyroid cancer has been the only health effect of the Chernobyl disaster (May 9th). But this does not mean it must go unchallenged.
There are enormous flaws in the modelling of radiation risks by the international Commission on Radiological Protection. Studies based on a massive one-off burst of radiation such as that emitted from Hiroshima do not address the issue of the continuous, long-term, low-dose internal radiation that the victims of Chernobyl have suffered for the last 15 years.
Recent studies published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society: Biological Sciences present evidence that this continued exposure has caused multiple changes in human DNA leading to birth defects and mutations. - Is mise,
Danny Thompson, Marlbourough Road, London N22.