WNWR 2019 — 4. RISKS FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND HUMAN HEALTH
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cluster near nuclear facilities in Europe was in 1984 in the UK near the Sellafield nuclear facility. In subsequent years, increased incidences of childhood leukemia occurred near other nuclear facilities in the UK,96,97 in France,98 and in Germany.99 In 2008, the German government published a major epidemiology study called Childhood Cancer in the Vicinity of Nuclear Power Plants. This report found a 120 percent increase in leukemia and a 60 percent increase in all cancers among infants and children under five years old living within five kilometers of all German reactors.100, 101 The increase of risk with proximity to the reactor site was statistically significant for all cancers. The study reignited the international debate on childhood leukemia near nuclear power plants. Researchers undertook similar studies in the UK,102 France,103 and Switzerland.104 Taken together, the research provides strong statistical evidence that leukemia increases near nuclear reactors. Various studies have identified several possible causes for the phenomenon, including pre-paternal exposures to occupational doses received by fathers,105 a postulated virus from population-mixing,106 an unusual response to infectious diseases in children,107 a genetic pre-disposition to cancer, high labelling of the embryos/fetuses of pregnant women near nuclear power plants,108 or a combination of these factors. Whatever the final explanation, the evidence worldwide shows that living near nuclear reactors entails serious health risks for babies and young children.109 While the evidence of association strongly suggests living near nuclear power presents serious health risks the causes cannot be definitively determined and so the issue remains controversial. RISKS TO NUCLEAR WORKERS Over the past two decades, the average exposures of nuclear workers in European countries have generally declined. Much of the collective dose continues to be received by temporary workers, nuclear 96 Forman, D., Cook-Mozaffari, P., Darby, S., Davey, G., Stratton, I., Doll, R., and Pike, M. 1987, Cancer near nuclear
installations, Nature, 329(6139), pp. 499-505. 97 Gardner, M.J. 1991, Father’s occupational exposure to radiation and the raised level of childhood leukemia near
the Sellafield nuclear plant, Environmental health perspectives, 94, pp.5-7. 98 Pobel, D. and Viel, J.F. 1997, Case-control study of leukemia among young people near La Hague nuclear reprocessing
plant: the environmental hypothesis revisited, Bmj, 314(7074), pp. 101. 99 Baker, P.J. and Hoel, D.G. 2007, Meta‐analysis of standardized incidence and mortality rates of childhood leukaemia
in proximity to nuclear facilities, European Journal of cancer care, 16(4), pp. 355-363. 100 Kaatsch, P., Spix, C., Schulze‐Rath, R., Schmiedel, S. and Blettner, M. 2008, Leukemia in young children living in the
vicinity of German nuclear power plants. International Journal of Cancer, 122(4), pp. 721-726 101 Spix, C., Schmiedel, S., Kaatsch, P., Schulze-Rath, R. and Blettner, M. 2008, Case–control study on childhood cancer in
the vicinity of nuclear power plants in Germany 1980–2003, European Journal of Cancer, 44(2), pp. 275-284. 102 UK Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment 2011, “Further Consideration of the Incidence of
Childhood Leukemia Around Nuclear Power Plants in Great Britain, 14th Report,” COMARE 103 Sermage‐Faure, C., Laurier, D., Goujon‐Bellec, S., Chartier, M., Guyot‐Goubin, A., Rudant, J., Hémon, D. and Clavel,
J. 2012, Childhood leukemia around French nuclear power plants—the Geocap study, 2002–2007, International journal of cancer, 131(5), pp. E769-E780. 104 Spycher, B.D., Feller, M., Zwahlen, M., Röösli, M., von der Weid, N.X., Hengartner, H., Egger, M., Kuehni, C.E., Swiss Paediatric Oncology Group and Swiss National Cohort Study Group 2011, Childhood cancer and nuclear power plants in Switzerland: a census-based cohort study, International journal of epidemiology, 40(5), pp.1247-1260. 105 Gardner, M.J., Snee, M.P., Hall, A.J., Powell, C.A., Downes, S. and Terrell, J.D. 1990, Results of case-control study of leu kemia and lymphoma among young people near Sellafield nuclear plant in West Cumbria. Bmj, 300(6722), pp. 423-429. 106 Kinlen, L.J. 2004, Childhood leukemia and population mixing, Pediatrics, 114(1), pp. 330-331. 107 Greaves, M. 2006, Infection, immune responses and the aetiology of childhood leukemia, Nature Reviews Cancer, 6(3), pp.193. 108 Fairlie, I. 2014, A hypothesis to explain childhood cancers near nuclear power plants, Journal of environmental radioactivity, 133, pp. 10-17. 109 Laurier, D., Jacob, S., Bernier, M.O., Leuraud, K., Metz, C., Samson, E. and Laloi, P. 2008, Epidemiological studies of leukemia in children and young adults around nuclear facilities: a critical review, Radiation Protection Dosimetry, 132(2), pp. 182-190.
