For decades researchers have been unsure if there really is a link between child cancer and nuclear power plants.
Since the 1980s researchers have been struggling to prove a causal relationship (or non-causal) between the facilities and increased incidents of childhood cancers. A U.K. study and later German study both found there were more cases of cancer, especially leukemia, closer to local nuclear power plants. Officials stated the amount of radiation coming from the plants was too low to be the cause of the illnesses, a Global Research press release reported.
The Committee on Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment eventually threw their hands up and said the cause of the cancer was unknown it was not likely to be related to nuclear power facilities.
Researchers decided to bring up the subject again in a recent "meta-analysis" of 17 research papers that analyzed 136 nuclear power sites around the world.
They found children under nine that lived close to the sites were 14 to 21 percent more likely to be diagnosed with leukemia, and were five to 24 percent more likely to die from the disease.
A German study found 14 children living within about three miles from the Krümmel nuclear plant near Hamburg had been diagnosed with leukemia, instead of the expected four.
An even more dramatic German study found a 60 percent increase in incidents of all cancers and 117 percent increase in leukemia rates in children living near 16 power plants.
These studies did not determine the exact cause of the cancer incidents, but coincidence was ruled out as well as the "Kinlen hypothesis," which suggests leukemia is caused a foreign infectious agent. The researchers of this study said it also ruled out radiation as the culprit, because the levels were too low.
"The evidence they base this on is not clear," the press release reported.
