International Society of Doctors for Environment Alto Lazio, Italy.
Ital J Pediatr. 2010 Sep 10;36:60. doi: 10.1186/1824-7288-36-60.
Global warming and the established responsibility of the anthropogenic emissions of greenhouse gases represent a strong push towards the construction of new nuclear power plants (NPPs) to cope with the growing energy needs. The toxicity of nuclear waste associated with the extreme difficulty of their disposal and increase in cancer mortality and incidence following occupational radiation exposure are considered the only health problems.
A search of scientific articles and government documents published since January 1, 1980 to July 1, 2010 was performed to evaluate cancer rate and mortality in residents, particularly children, in the vicinity of NPPs.
A recent well conducted state-of-the-art case-control study of childhood cancers in the areas around German NPPs (KiKK study) showed a statistically significant cancers (2.2-fold increase in leukemia and a 1.6-fold increase in solid tumor) among children under five years of age living in the inner 5 km circle around NPPs when compared to residence outside this area. These findings have been confirmed by two meta-analyses. Nevertheless, other UK, France, Spain and Finland studies did not find cancer incidence and/or death increase near NPPs.
Increased cancer risk near NPPs remains in fact an open question. The stronger evidence from the KiKK study suggests there may well be such increases at least in children regardless of the country in which nuclear reactors are located. In fact, few months ago the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission has asked the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) to perform a state-of-the-art study on cancer risk for populations surrounding NPPs.
全球变暖以及人为温室气体排放的既定责任，强烈推动了新核电站（NPP）的建设，以应对不断增长的能源需求。与核废料处理的极端难度以及职业辐射暴露后癌症死亡率和发病率的增加相关的核废料毒性被认为是唯一的健康问题。
自 1980 年 1 月 1 日至 2010 年 7 月 1 日，对已发表的科学文章和政府文件进行了检索，以评估核电站附近居民（尤其是儿童）的癌症发病率和死亡率。
最近一项针对德国核电站附近儿童癌症的、精心设计的病例对照研究（KiKK 研究）表明，与居住在该区域以外的儿童相比，居住在核电站内 5 公里范围内的 5 岁以下儿童患癌症（白血病增加 2.2 倍，实体瘤增加 1.6 倍）的风险存在统计学显著差异。这一发现已被两项荟萃分析所证实。然而，其他英国、法国、西班牙和芬兰的研究并未发现核电站附近癌症发病率和/或死亡率增加。
核电站附近癌症风险增加实际上仍是一个悬而未决的问题。KiKK 研究的更有力证据表明，至少在儿童中，无论核反应堆所在的国家如何，这种风险增加很可能确实存在。事实上，几个月前，美国核管理委员会已要求美国国家科学院（NAS）对核电站周围人群的癌症风险进行一项最新的研究。
