Risk of Childhood Leukaemia in the Vicinity of Nuclear Installations: Findings and Recent Controversies

Abstract

The identification of a local excess of cancer cases, possibly associated with ionizing radiation, always receives substantial media coverage and communication about clusters is difficult. We reviewed studies that examined the risk of leukaemia among young people near nuclear installations. An excess of leukaemia exists near some nuclear installations, at least for the reprocessing plants at Sellafield and Dounreay and the nuclear power plant Krümmel. Nonetheless, the results of multi-site studies invalidate the hypothesis of an increased risk of leukaemia related to nuclear discharge. Up until now, analytic studies have not found an explanation for the leukaemia clusters observed near certain nuclear installations. The hypothesis of an infectious aetiology associated with population mixing has been proposed, but needs to be investigated further. The review illustrates two recent examples in France (La Hague reprocessing plant) and in Germany (Krümmel power plant), where controversies developed after reports of increased leukaemia risks. These examples show the importance of recalling the current epidemiological knowledge and of using systematic recording of cases to replace the alleged excesses in a more general framework. Some elements should also be suggested from the recent French and German experiences to reinforce credibility in the results.

Modeling Dose Deposition and DNA Damage Due to Low-Energy β–Emitters

“…However, radiological assessments have been unable to attribute these excesses to radiation exposure, and increased levels of childhood leukaemia are not a general feature of areas in the vicinity of nuclear sites (Bithell et al, 1994;Sharp et al, 1996;Laurier and Bard, 1999;Laurier et al, 2002). As mentioned in paragraph 46 above, some of these excesses have been attributed to population mixing.…”

“…These members pointed to excesses of childhood leukaemia in areas remote from nuclear sites, and to nuclear sites where there are apparently no excesses (Laurier and Bard, 1999;Laurier et al, 2002). They believed that the population mixing hypothesis was a possible explanation for the excesses at Sellafield and Dounreay, and those elsewhere away from nuclear sites.…”

Revue de l’état des connaissances des effets du tritium sur la santé et l’environnement au Canada – un outil pour orienter la surveillance réglementaire

“…Leur revue et la revue d'autres études semblables en France (Laurier et Bard, 1999 ;Laurier et al, 2002Laurier et al, , 2008 et en Grande-Bretagne (COMARE, 2006(COMARE, , 2011 n'ont pas permis de déterminer à ce jour l'existence d'un lien de causalité entre un facteur de risque chimique ou physique et le risque observé de leucémie infantile chez les enfants de moins de 5 ans habitant dans un rayon de 5 km des centrales nucléaires tel que l'avait suggéré l'étude KiKK. Il n'en reste pas moins que le risque observé demeure inexpliqué.…”

“…De plus, les revues des cas de leucémie infantile à proximité des installations nucléaires par Laurier et al (Laurier et Bard, 1999 ;Laurier et al, 2002Laurier et al, , 2008 n'ont confirmé l'existence que de trois grappes de cas de leucémie ayant persisté dans le temps, soit aux environs de Sellafield, Dounreay et Krümmel. Ces études n'ont pu mettre en évidence aucun lien de causalité entre la leucémie chez l'enfant et l'exposition environnementale à la radioactivité près des installations nucléaires ou l'exposition parentale avant la conception.…”

Childhood Leukaemia Incidence Around French Nuclear Installations Using Geographic Zoning Based on Gaseous Discharge Dose Estimates

“…The epidemiological studies of leukaemia around nuclear sites have analysed incidence with respect to the distance from the plants, without considering details on the levels or geographic distribution of the radiation dose due to discharges from the plants (Laurier and Bard, 1999;Laurier et al, 2002). Such an approach may lead to inappropriate grouping of areas studied, since the dispersion of radionuclides is generally not isotropic and does not decrease linearly with the distance, while the dose levels are not equal for all sites.…”