Fallout deaths By NICK RICHARDSON 31aug02 RADIOACTIVE fallout from the British nuclear tests in the 1950s might be linked to an alarming rise in infant deaths in some Victorian towns.Fallout deaths By NICK RICHARDSON 31aug02 RADIOACTIVE fallout from the British nuclear tests in the 1950s might be linked to an alarming rise in infant deaths in some Victorian towns. Approaching the 50th anniversary of the first nuclear explosion on October 3, 1952, at the Monte Bello Islands off the West Australian coast, research reveals several towns in Victoria, NSW and Queensland recorded higher-than-usual infant death rates in the late 1950s. Each of the 12 tests conducted in and around Australia from 1952-57 generated a nuclear cloud. In some areas, the nuclear plume met rain clouds, forming a potentially lethal solution. According to official radioactivity monitoring stations at the time, Sale, Echuca, Hamilton, Mildura, Nhill, Swan Hill and Warrnambool were exposed to some radiation - especially after the final bomb at Maralinga in October 1957. Australian and British authorities maintained at the time the exposure was minimal and there was no threat. But in the past 50 years, evidence has emerged there is no safe level of radiation exposure. A survey of infant mortality rates in the Victorian towns reveals a circumstantial link between the nuclear rain and a rise in deaths. Sixteen children aged up to two died in Mildura in 1958. In 1959, the number was 20, before dropping to 13 the next year. Warrnambool had a similar pattern. The number of infant deaths in 1958 was 27. It increased to 34 in 1959, then dropped to 16 in 1960. Mt Isa in Queensland and Tamworth and Armidale in New South Wales mirror the Victorian results. The initial alarm about fallout was raised by Australian scientist Hedley Marston in 1957. Mr Marston found a radioactive cloud from the third nuclear test passed over Adelaide and left debris in the city's northern suburbs. His research on sheep and cattle, which had eaten fallout-tainted pasture, indicated the presence of a lethal nuclear by-product, strontium 90. Approaching the 50th anniversary of the first nuclear explosion on October 3, 1952, at the Monte Bello Islands off the West Australian coast, research reveals several towns in Victoria, NSW and Queensland recorded higher-than-usual infant death rates in the late 1950s. Each of the 12 tests conducted in and around Australia from 1952-57 generated a nuclear cloud. In some areas, the nuclear plume met rain clouds, forming a potentially lethal solution. According to official radioactivity monitoring stations at the time, Sale, Echuca, Hamilton, Mildura, Nhill, Swan Hill and Warrnambool were exposed to some radiation - especially after the final bomb at Maralinga in October 1957. Australian and British authorities maintained at the time the exposure was minimal and there was no threat. But in the past 50 years, evidence has emerged there is no safe level of radiation exposure. A survey of infant mortality rates in the Victorian towns reveals a circumstantial link between the nuclear rain and a rise in deaths. Sixteen children aged up to two died in Mildura in 1958. In 1959, the number was 20, before dropping to 13 the next year. Warrnambool had a similar pattern. The number of infant deaths in 1958 was 27. It increased to 34 in 1959, then dropped to 16 in 1960. Mt Isa in Queensland and Tamworth and Armidale in New South Wales mirror the Victorian results. The initial alarm about fallout was raised by Australian scientist Hedley Marston in 1957. Mr Marston found a radioactive cloud from the third nuclear test passed over Adelaide and left debris in the city's northern suburbs. His research on sheep and cattle, which had eaten fallout-tainted pasture, indicated the presence of a lethal nuclear by-product, strontium 90. END professor rat was born in 55 at Ballarat,country Vic.French tests raised cesium levels in milk around the late 50's early 60's.