Chernobyl fallout

A study by statistician John Urquhart, further detail in New Scientist 29 June 2002, indicates some of the effects on England and Wales of the Chernobyl disaster of 1986. In the three years following he estimates a related increase of 200 in childhood deaths within the first year of life, and 600 additional cases of birth defects such as spina bifida, Down’s syndrome and cleft palate.