'No link' between nuclear plants and child cancer

This report suggested that there were more cases of cancer than expected in young people in the vicinity of what is now known as the Sellafield nuclear power plant. This led to the setting up of the Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE), which analyses data on rates of cancer in children in the areas around nuclear plants in Great Britain. A report from COMARE in 2005 found that although a number of excess cases of some kinds of childhood cancer were found for nuclear sites whose main function was not the generation of electricity they “found no evidence of excess numbers of cases in any local 25 km area” for 13 nuclear power stations. A 2011 COMARE report assessing published research and analysing British data concluded that “in spite of its limitations, the geographical analysis of British data is suggestive of a risk estimate for childhood leukaemia associated with proximity to an nuclear power plant that is extremely small, if not actually zero.” There has been criticism that the UK research has so far specifically looked at geographical areas and the incidence of cancer in these areas. Results of this type of study are limited by the fact that childhood cancers are so uncommon that each area is likely to only have a few cases, and differences between areas may be hard to detect. Results may also be influenced by the fact that people move in and out of the areas and may be lost to the study. In the current study, researchers used a ...
Source: NHS News Feed - Category: Consumer Health News Tags: Cancer Source Type: news