A team from the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm), under the responsibility of Dr Jacqueline Clavel, responsible for environmental epidemiology, has just presented the results of a study on the number of cases of childhood leukemia recorded between 2002 and 2007 around French nuclear power plants. The findings of this study, which has just been published online in the‘International journal of cancer will certainly not reassure parents who live in the immediate vicinity of French nuclear power plants. This report found 14 cases of childhood leukemia around the 19 French nuclear sites between 2002 and 2007, while the national incidence rate is 7.4 cases in children under 15 years of age.
Childhood leukemia: finding the cause
Those responsible for this study, carried out in collaboration with the Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety. (INSN) remain however very cautious in front of these figures and do not want to establish, for the moment, no clear correlation between the number of cases of childhood leukemia and “the very weak ionizing radiations emitted by the stations in normal operation”.
To sum up, there is an increased risk of leukemia for children who live less than 5 km from nuclear power plants, compared to their little comrades who live at least 20 km from these same plants. But this “possible excess of risk” would not be due to radiation. Conclusion: for the researchers, it is now necessary to get down to the search for the causes which could explain the increase in the risk of cancer observed around the power plants. Dr Clavel also hopes to work internationally to go further in this study: “It is by identifying the real causes that we can propose preventive actions.” she declares.
