A FARMER suffering from cancer has called for a study into the health impact of Chernobyl on the 20th anniversary of the nuclear disaster. People in rural north west Wales are worried cancer levels are higher than the national average. But they are also keen to avoid scare-mongering in case it damages tourism and farming. Huw Roberts, of Bryn Gwyn, Llanuwchllyn, near Bala, said farmers would welcome academic research into cancer and its possible links with the Chernobyl explosion. On April 26, 1986, the world's worst nuclear power disaster sent a plume of radio nuclides across Europe, falling on areas of high rainfall, including North Wales. Just over 5,000 farms in the country were affected and, 20 years on, 359 Welsh farms remain under restrictions, compared with just 23 in England and Scotland. Mr Roberts, NFU Meirionnydd county president, said: "I was concerned about high cancer levels long before I fell ill. "I am just a farmer, not a scientist, but to me it would make sense to carry out a proper study into the possible causes. "It's a diplomatic eggshell because local people are anxious to avoid unnecessary scandal. We've lived through BSE and foot-and-and-mouth and we don't want any more health scares." | 
