Two research groups, in England and the U.S., reported discovering a new form of delayed injury from radiation. The research was carried out by Dr. Eric G. Wright at the British Medical Research Council Radiobiology Unit in Didcot, Oxfordshire, England. The delayed effect is different from the immediate genetic damage scientists have observed previously. Usually radiation alters the genetic makeup of a cell, causing its immediate descendants to take on new characteristics. In the new findings, some of the cells that survive radioactive assault appear normal through several divisions.
Damage eventually appears in a descendant cell several generations later.
Both research groups said that if the effect is confirmed by further research, it will mean radiation is more dangerous than previously believed. In both instances, the NRC shut the facilities temporarily after citizens had raised safety and environmental concerns, and the owners then shut them permanently. In sum, not a bad year.