Four university workers 'killed by radiation from 100-year-old experiments by nuclear pioneer Ernest Rutherford'

13 April 2012

Radiation from experiments carried out at a university more than 100 years ago may be responsible for a cluster of cancer deaths.


An investigation has been ordered after three academics and a young computer assistant died after working in the same building.

The former laboratory at Manchester University was used by the Nobel prizewinning nuclear scientist Ernest Rutherford at the turn of the 20th century.

Death by radiation? Vanessa Santos-Leitao, who died from a brain tumour (left), and Dr Hugo Wagner, who died from pancreatic cancer. Both worked in Manchester University's Rutherford Building

Rutherford - the father of modern nuclear physics - is known to have carried out experiments using radioactive material from 1906.

Now the Health and safety Executive is to examine if  former lecturers and students could have been contaminated by the materials used in the building.

Exposure to radiation can cause cancer and the building is also known to have contained quantities of polonium - the substance which killed Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko in November 2006.

The academics who died all worked for the psychology department which moved into the building in 1972, two years after it was vacated by the physics department.

Psychologist Dr Hugh Wagner, who died last year of pancreatic cancer, aged 62, worked for 20 years in room 2.62 of the Rutherford Building - the room in which, in 1908, Rutherford and Thomas Royds conducted experiments that made substantial use of radon.

Ernest Rutherford (right) in his lab at Manchester University with assistant Hans Geiger: There could be a connection between the Nobel prize-winning scientist's experiments and the current cancer scare

His colleague, Dr John Clark, who worked in the room directly below, died of a brain tumour in 1992 after taking early retirement.

In Februar this year Vanessa Santos-Leitao, 25, a computer assistant who worked in the building from 2006, died of a brain tumour.

And last week father-of-four Dr Arthur Reader, 69, who worked in the psychology department between 1965 - 1993, died of pancreatic cancer.

His family have not made any comment, but in the days before his death his wife Grace said his illness 'seemed more than a coincidence.'

Father of nuclear physics: Rutherford was the first man to split the atom

Three of the university's psychologists were so worried about the cluster that they took it upon themselves to investigate.

John Churcher, Don O'Boyle and Neil Todd, who also work in the Rutherford building, published their findings on the Internet in June.

In the report they say: 'We discovered only by chance that the offices we had occupied for many years were subject to radiological survey and decontamination.'

They say they have no direct evidence of a link between radioactive contamination and the death of their colleagues.

However the university confirmed it ordered a decontamination at the Rutherford Building in 1999, but say this was only a precautionary measure as readings taken had never recorded any dangerous levels of radiation.

The Health and Safety Executive say radiation readings in the department are at a completely safe level but they are overseeing a major investigation into whether they could have been dangerous to workers and students in the past.

Dr Wagner's widow, Rachel, says she backed the new investigation which has been ordered by the university and will be carried out by an independent agency.

She said: 'Many dear friends and colleagues - and there are many others whom I don't know - have worked in the building over the years: they could be alarmed by the report and will be wanting accurate information.

'I am reassured that the university is looking into not only the building's history, but also its occupancy.'

Killed by polonium: Russian dissident Alexander Litvinenko was poisoned by the same substance Rutherford used

An inquest will also be held to establish whether Dr Reader's cancer was caused by substances he was exposed to while he was employed by the university.

Manchester coroner Nigel Meadows said: 'I'm going to open an inquest and have a post-mortem examination to determine whether or not his death was unnatural - that is, whether or not he was exposed to anything during the course of his employment that may have caused or contributed to the cancer.'

There may also be an investigation into the death of Miss Santos-Leitao after her death from a brain tumour earlier this year.

The 25-year-old moved to Britain from Portugal in 2000 to study a degree before joining Manchester University's International Development department in December 2005.

A university spokesman said: 'We believe the evidence presented to date does not support a connection between the deaths of former staff and possible exposure to radioactive contamination. It is important to stress that we do not believe there to be any risk to current occupants of the Rutherford Building.

'It was surveyed by an independent specialist company as part of the refurbishment in 2006 and some minor contamination - below levels reportable to the Health and Safety Executive - were found in a limited number of locations.

'This was removed by specialist contractors and the building was re-surveyed prior to the move into the building of its current occupants.'

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