A doctor says she is on the verge of proving a link between the
Sellafield nuclear plant and high levels of fatal illness in her patients.
Dr Mary Grehan has uncovered disturbing trends that put her home town at the
top of the cancer leagues of Europe.
After years of research, she now claims to be one step away from proving
that low levels of an
essential vitamin are caused by radioactivity from the Irish Sea.
Managers at British Nuclear Fuels Ltd questioned the new claims, saying
emissions from Sellafield
in Cumbria were not to blame for the reported problems.
But the respected GP also criticised chiefs at the nuclear plant for the
recent scandal over faked
safety checks.
She claims the falsified data brings into question the entire safety
history of the complex.
Dr Grehan's surgery in Dundalk, County Louth, is 100 miles across the
Irish Sea from Sellafield.
For the last six years she has done research into low levels of the
vitamin B12, which is vital for
fighting off cancer, in her patients.
She says she is on the verge of proving these levels are caused by
radioactive cobalt from
Sellafield.
The research has revealed that 41pc of 15 to 30-year-olds were deficient
in the vitamin, which is
normally a very rare occurrence in that age group.
And 51pc of 30 to 45-year-olds suffered from a shortage of the vitamin -
when it is usually one in
1,000. The level of the vitamin reverted to the norm for over 45s.
Dr Grehan said: "The cut-off point for these problems seems to be around
1957 - the year of the
fire at Sellafield.
"Low vitamin B12 in the body can cause all sorts of problems and can lead
to stomach cancer.
"And County Louth has the highest rate of cancer in the stomach in
Europe.
"The cancer rate is extremely high compared to other areas .We are second
only to Belarus which
was, of course, affected by Chernobyl.
"We think the problem is radioactive cobalt which comes across from
Sellafield, gets into the mud
and then somehow into the food chain.
"If we can prove this is the case then we will have a link for the first
time.
"At the beginning of my research I didn't think it was Sellafield causing
the problems but now I
have no doubt."
But Dr Richard Wakeford, principal research officer at BNFL, said: "If
these unusually high levels
of vitamin B12 deficiency that she is seeing in her practice are real
then you would have thought
that the health authorities in Ireland would have taken a real interest.
"If there are any real effects in County Louth there is no way it could
be attributed to Sellafield.
"We are monitored not only by BNFL but the Environment Agency, the
Ministry of Agriculture
and Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland."
