Leukaemia in the vicinity of nuclear installations - a review

Based on the finding of an increased leukaemia risk among young people (aged 0-24) in the small village of Seascale, south of the Sellafield reprocessing plant, a discussion started on whether there is in general an elevated number of leukaemia cases to be observed in the vicinity of nuclear power plants. An overview on existing findings leads to the conclusion that this is not the case among adults. Among children and juveniles, a slight increase can be observed, which is most pronounced among the youngest age groups in the nearest vicinity of the plants. Estimates of radiation exposures to the public make a causal relationship between the radioactive discharges and the cases implausible. Other explanations are discussed, namely that population influx into a relatively sparsely populated area, e.g. due to new industry settlements, might lead to an altered infection situation in the respective area which than causes an increased leukaemia rate. Recent results are indicative for a causative role of infections in relation to childhood leukaemias. This explanation is opposed by the finding, that elevated rates have also been observed around potential nuclear sites where there was no population influx. Overall, current findings have to be considered as not fully understood. (orig.)