However, despite the efforts of researchers in the UK and abroad, no group has ever succeeded in replicating its findings.The new study, led by Dr Gerald Draper, director of the Childhood Cancer Research Group, "almost finishes" the Gardner hypothesis, the BMJ says. It concludes that the most likely explanation for the increased risk among radiation workers is exposure to infection resulting from mixing of the population.This theory suggests that childhood leukaemia may be a rare reaction to infection which is more common when there is a big influx of people to an isolated rural community, as when a nuclear power station is being built.Although the 77 per cent increase in risk for radiation-exposed workers looks high, the absolute risk is still small. Exposure to radiation, it was suggested, might damage the genetic material in the men's sperm.The BMJ describes the "Gardner hypothesis" as one of the most important papers it has published in the last 15 years. In fact, men with the highest risk received the lowest or zero doses. The study, published in the British Medical Journal, is the most definitive so far to counter the 15-year- old hypothesis that living near to or working in a nuclear power station increases the risk of cancer.Alarm over a link between nuclear power and leukaemia was triggered in 1983 with the broadcast of the Yorkshire Television documentary, The Nuclear Laundry, which claimed that the high level of childhood leukaemia in the Cumbrian village of Seascale was linked with the nearby nuclear reprocessing plant at Sellafield.The programme's claims gained scientific credibility following publication of a study, also in the BMJ, by the respected cancer epidemiologist Martin Gardner, which appeared to show that exposure of men to radiation before conception increased the risk of leukaemia in their offspring.

Jeremy Laurance, Health Editor, explains how the findings effectively dispel the fears of a link which surfaced 15 years ago, but leave questions about the causes of childhood leukaemia unanswered. Workers in nuclear and other industries who are exposed to radiation have a 77 per cent higher risk of fathering a child who develops leukaemia, according to one of the largest studies yet conducted. However, the findings by the Childhood Cancer Research Group at Oxford University, show that the risk of having a child with leukaemia was not linked with the size of the radiation dose. But their increased risk is not linked to radiation exposure. A study of workers exposed to radiation shows they are more likely to have children who develop leukaemia. One sachet of coffee is available during breakfast.Cost per day pounds 1.52 per person.Antony Worrall Thompson'sAlternativeBreakfastHerb mushrooms and kidneys on toast. Extra toast.LunchChicken tagine with couscous or vegetarian lasagne.Side dishes like salad, potatoes, rice and bread.DinnerStir-fried pork ribbons with string beans and basil, garlic and chilli sauce or Thai-style stir-fry cuttlefish or salmon and dill fish cake or Rajastani rabbit curry or lentil and vegetable curry.Side dishes like salad, potatoes, rice and bread.Cost also at pounds 1.52 per day per person, based on a pounds 7,600 budget for a prison with 500 inmates..

peas, or carrots)Sometimes followed by a bun.TeaBaked potato and cheese or individual chicken vindaloo or individual lasagne or gammon steak and pineapple with one type of potato and one type of seasonal vegetable.All meals are served with tea or tap water. "In my experience, prisoners love spicy food," he explained.However, Mr Worrall Thompson could not afford to use real basil and garlic with the stir-fried pork ribbons "But the powdered type would be fine" he said His menu added up to pounds 1.25 per person. "So they don't just want fatty pies."For breakfast, out went the traditional porridge and boiled eggs They were replaced with kidney. "It's a healthy and tasty start to the day." He also added a Moroccan dish - Chicken Tagine.