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Home > Press > Year 2007 > Press Release 012
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Press Release 012 as of 2007/12/10
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Childhood cancer risk in the vicinity of nuclear power plants:
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President König presents results
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The risk for children under 5 years of age to contract leukaemia increases the closer they live to a nuclear power plant. This is the result of a study headed by Professor Maria Blettner of the German Childhood Cancer Registry in Mainz (GCCR) and carried out on behalf of the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS). BfS President Wolfram König: „The result of the study is reliable. After having examined the study, no mistake or error in the development of the study design nor in the compilation and analysis of the data have been found so far which could explain the observed effect.“
As a new, epidemiological more ambitious approach was applied, the study represents the crucial progress in answering the issue of health effects in the vicinity of reactors, which has been discussed for about 30 years.
The study included 1,592 children with cancer and 4,735 children without cancer (so-called controls which are as similar as possible to the living conditions of the children who contracted cancer) under five years of age. 41 rural districts in the vicinity of the 16 sites of the altogether 22 nuclear power plants in Germany were investigated. There was a statistically significant increase in the risk of contracting a tumour or leukaemia the closer the children lived to a reactor. This finding applies to leukaemia in children under five years of age.
The submitted study is the third one in a series of corresponding investigations carried out by the German Childhood Cancer Registry. However, it stands out from the two preceding studies in terms of its strength of conclusion. „The significant progress made with the investigation commissioned by us is that for the first time not only incidence rates in certain regions were compared“, BfS President König states. “ For the first time, exact data on the distance of a residence to a reactor could be taken into account in a so-called case-control study, in fact for both children with cancer (cases) and children without cancer (controls). “
„The result is in line with similar investigations being carried out world-wide“, König continues. In a so-called meta-analysis in which previous ecological studies dealing with the occurrence of cancer in childhood age in the vicinity of nuclear power plants were summarised and evaluated, such an interrelation was also found in 2007. -President König: „A surprising finding, however, is that the leukaemia risk among children increases demonstrably the closer they live to a reactor.”
BfS had the study accompanied by a panel of experts consisting of 12 members, who held meetings yesterday and today, the contractor also having participated in part of the meetings. The experts share all essential results of the study. Thus, there is agreement between the contractor, BfS and the appointed experts on all major aspects of the study.
In the opinion of the experts, too, the study design is in accordance with the state-of-the-art of science. The study is currently the most elaborate and comprehensive investigation world-wide in terms of methodology. The question of the connection between vicinity of the home to a reactor and risk of contracting cancer has thus been clearly answered for Germany.
The panel of experts also commented on the statements given in the final report of the KiKK study which were not object of the order. The GCCR made evaluations beyond the order, which was plausible, although opinions relating to the type of calculations are not shared entirely.
In particular, the experts looked into cancer incidences for the area outside the 5-km-radius. If a radius of 50 km around the nuclear power plant sites is considered, at least 121 – 275 additional incidences would have to be assumed for the same period. This would correspond to up to 18 % of all cancer incidences in children under 5 years of age having occurred in the 50-km-radius around nuclear power plants.
BfS is of the opinion that in view of the surprisingly clear interrelation between the frequency of leukaemia incidences and the vicinity of the home to the nuclear power plant, it is reasonable to make additional evaluations not included in the order. In particular the area outside the 5-km-zone around the nuclear power plant sites must be considered more than this was done in the past.
Such an evaluation - outside 5 km – is also considered to be reasonable and possible by the authors of the study of the German Childhood Cancer Registry.
There were discussions about the issue of causes of the increased number of leukaemia cases among the panel of experts.
BfS, the contractor and the panel of experts agree that this study cannot make any statements on the causality of the incidences.
Even so, the study includes the statement that „…on the basis of the current radiation-biological and radiation-epidemiological knowledge the ionising radiation emitted by German nuclear power plants in normal operation can basically not be interpreted as cause.“
In contrast to the authors, the external panel of experts is convinced that this interrelation can on no account be excluded. The reason given for this opinion is the particularly high radiation risk for small children and the insufficient knowledge of the effects of the radionuclides taken up in the body.
The President of BfS: “According to examinations carried out by BfS, a causal interrelation between the increased leukaemia incidences and the real radioactive emissions from the reactors alone currently cannot be proved. Other possible risk factors that have to be taken into account in connection with childhood leukaemia cannot explain the increase in risk depending on the distance to a reactor either.“
The detailed final report of the study was now submitted to the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety and can be found on the BfS homepage under www.bfs.de. The same applies to a background paper.
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