- Title: The Alpha Link
- Date: 29th November 1992
- Summary: FOR OVER 40 YEARS, SCIENTISTS HAVE BASED THEIR ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT NUCLEAR SAFETY ON THE EXPERIENCE OF JAPANESE BOMB SURVIVORS. THEIR CANCER RECORDS ARE USED TO F IX RADIATION DOSE LIMITS, AND AS A BENCHMARK AGAINST WHICH SCIENTIFIC THEORIES ARE JUDGED. ON THIS BASIS, THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY HAS REJECTED A PROPOSAL BY PROFESSOR MARTIN GARDNER, LINKING CHILDHOOD CANCERS TO SELLAFIELD. HE SUGGESTED THAT A RADIATION DOESE TO FATHERS, PRIOR TO CONCEPTION, COULD LEAD TO CANCER IN THEIR CHILDREN, THROUGH DAMAGED SPERM. BUT BNFL SCIENTISTS POINT OUT THAT CHILDREN BORN IN HIROSHIMA AND NAGASKI WERE NOT PRONE TO LEUKAEMIA, THOUGH THEIR FATHERS HAD BEEN EXPOSED TO HIGH DOSES OF RADIATION FROM THE ATOM BOM. BUT NOW, SCIENTISTS AT THE MRC'S RADIOBIOLOGY UNIT, AT HARWELL, HAVE ANNOUNCED A DISCOVER Y WHICH COULD UNDERMINE THIS ARGUMENT.
- Description:PROGRAMME REPORTS ON IMPORTANT NEW RESEARCH ON THE EFFECT OF ALPHA PARTICLES
- Broadcaster:Channel 4
- Collection: Channel 4
- Genre:Documentary and Factual
- Producer:Box Productions Ltd
- Programme Episode:Episode 1
- Transmission Date:29/11/1992
- Rights:On Request
- Decade: 1990s