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Teacher’s notes

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This clip shows film director David Bradbury travelling by train to Dundee to interview Professor Eric Wright of the University of Dundee, who is an expert on internal radiation of humans. Wright argues against the findings of scientist Dr Chris Busby on clusters of cancers around nuclear power plants. Footage shows a nuclear power plant. Wright refers to his own research on the irradiation of stem cells with alpha particles, which is explained using animation.

Educational value points

• Professor Wright’s (1943–) research and other scientists’ findings as presented in the clip both support and confound claims made by Dr Busby (1945–) of the dangers of internal radiation due to proximity to a nuclear power plant. Wright refers to epidemiological analysis that refutes Busby’s claims. However, his own research on radiation damage could be seen to support Busby’s case, linking nuclear power stations to above-average incidence of childhood leukaemia.

• Wright engages with the theory put forward by Busby on the radiation dangers to humans from nuclear power stations. He reports that Busby’s data has not stood up to critical evaluation by the epidemiologists. He says that although it is accepted that there is a correlation between a high incidence of childhood leukaemia and the geographic location of a nuclear power station, other evidence suggests ‘it probably isn’t the explanation’.

• In the clip Wright also discusses his research that supports the concerns Busby has about the danger of internal radiation. His explanation is that multiple hits to a single cell or a population of cells in a human may cause damage leading to mutating cells, cancers and other illnesses. This damage is unlikely from external radiation but it is open to speculation whether it occurs from internally absorbed radiation such as isotopes discharged from nuclear reactors.

• The clip uses animation to communicate complex research findings in a simpler way. Wright’s research revealed the potential for mutational changes in the cell’s descendents when one stem cell was bombarded by one alpha particle, the lowest dose of radiation. The animation shows the alpha particle represented by a small ball of light landing on and being absorbed by the nucleus of a stem cell.

• David Bradbury (1951–) utilises his distinctively personal style of documentary making in his ongoing campaign against the dangers of nuclear energy. In a first-person commentary he explains the personal quest that is the subject of the clip. The director appears in front of the camera travelling through the night to Dundee to find answers to his questions on nuclear power. He represents himself as being a seeker of truth rather than having a committed position.

• The film uses the metaphor of the journey to represent the search for knowledge and in so doing engages the viewer’s interest. The noise of the travelling train, the transition from night to day and the views from the train itself are all used to convey the journey being made. The footage is accompanied by a commentary that refers to Bradbury’s personal quest for understanding and invites the viewer to accompany Bradbury.