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Two scientists, F. H. Cripps and A. Stimson, who both worked for the [[Atomic Weapons Research Establishment]] at [[Aldermaston]], stated in a secret 1961 report, released by the [[CND]] in 1996, that the fire detonated the high explosives in a nuclear weapon, that [[plutonium]] and [[uranium oxide]]s were spread over a wide area (foliage up to 8 mi (13 km) away was contaminated with [[uranium-235]]) and that they had discovered high concentrations of radioactive contamination around the airfield.<ref>''The Distribution of Uranium 235 and Plutonium 239 around the United States Air Force base at Greenham Common'', July 1961 by F H Cripps & A Stimson, AWRE, Aldermaston</ref>
However, a radiological survey commissioned in 1997 by [[West Berkshire|Newbury District Council]] and [[Basingstoke and Deane|Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council]] found no evidence of a [[nuclear accident]] at Greenham Common, suggesting that Cripps and Stimson's statements were false. The seven-month-long survey was carried out by the Geosciences Advisory Unit of [[Southampton University]] and combined a [[helicopter]]-mounted [[gamma ray]] detector survey with a ground-based survey. The team analysed nearly 600 samples taken from soil, lake sediment, borehole water, house dust, runway tarmac and concrete, looking for uranium and plutonium [[isotope]]s. No evidence of an accident involving nuclear weapons damage was found at the former air force base although the ground survey detected some low-level uranium contamination around the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston thought to be derived from that facility, and the helicopter survey found some anomalies around [[Harwell Laboratory]].<ref>[http://www.soton.ac.uk/~newrep/vol14/no12news.html Greenham Common given 'all-clear'-leaving childhood leukaemia clusters a mystery] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051211100755/http://www.soton.ac.uk/~newrep/vol14/no12news.html |date=11 December 2005 }}, Southampton University in-house newsletter ''New Reporter'' Vol 14, No 12, 10 March 1997</ref>
====United States Air Forces in Europe====
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