RESEAU SORTIR DU NUCLEAIRE - Press Release - January 11, 2012

The International Journal of Cancer has published in its January issue of a scientific study establishing a very clear correlation between the frequency of acute childhood leukemia and proximity to nuclear power stations (1).

This rigorous epidemiological study, conducted by a team from INSERM (2), IRSN (3) and the National Register of hematological diseases of children in Villejuif, demonstrates for the period 2002-2007 in France the doubling of occurrence of childhood leukemia: the increase is up to 2.2 among children under 5 years.

It confirms the study conducted in Germany by the Cancer Registry in Mainz in 2008 (4), which had reached the same conclusion. Research at INSERM, entitled GeoCAP, includes 2753 cases diagnosed throughout France between 2002 and 2007 from geocoded addresses and located around 19 French reactors.

For years, "Sortir du nucléaire" has seen the IRSN discrediting work in all epidemiological studies showing an impact of nuclear facilities on health: - discrediting of JF Viel study showing an excess of leukemia and childhood cancers around La Hague (5), - discrediting the study demonstrating an excess of childhood leukemia around the German power stations (6). Sortir du nucléaire would therefore on this all too rare occasion like to congratulate the IRSN for participating in this epidemiological study.

Even in non-accidental situation, the proof is in the pudding ​​that nuclear technology does not belong in a civilised world.