[ RadSafe ] FW: [abolition-caucus] survey finds remarkable cancer cluster near nuclear power station

Sun Jun 11 18:20:01 CDT 2006

Coalition for Peace and Justice; UNPLUG Salem Campaign, 321 Barr Ave,
Linwood; NJ08221; 609-601-8583
________________________________________
From: abolition-caucus at yahoogroups.com
[mailto:abolition-caucus at yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of davey garland
Sent: Sunday, June 11, 2006 1:39 PM
To: nucnews at yahoogroups.com; earthfirstalert at yahoogroups.com;
abolition-caucus at yahoogroups.com; asceptic at tiscali.co.uk;
cndyorks at yahoogroups.com
Subject: [abolition-caucus] survey finds remarkable cancer cluster near
nuclear power station

SURVEY FINDS REMARKABLE CANCER CLUSTER NEAR NUCLEAR POWER STATION 
Cancer in women younger than 50 is more than 15 times UK national average
TV documentary to be transmitted Tuesday evening 13th June 20.25 BST

The Welsh 4th channel S4C is due to reveal the results of a survey in the
vicinity of Trawsfynydd nuclear power station in north Wales. Researchers
going from door to door administered a questionnaire covering nearly a
thousand people of all ages in three communities around the closed-down
power plant. The questionnaire asked about cancer within each household
during 1996 – 2005. It ascertained levels of cancer which ex-Environment
Minister Michael Meacher has described as "sensational". 
The overall picture is of increased risks of all types of cancer relative to
national rates. 
Ages
Relative risks, all malignancy
male + female

All 10 years
2003 – 05
All ages
1.03 (ns)
  1.95
0 – 60
1.54
  3.3
0 – 50
5.6
11.3
All results have high statistical significance, except where marked "ns".
There is an apparently greater effect in the latter part of the study
period. This is due to "data leakage" — people becoming lost to the study
because they die or move away, or because after the death of the patient the
surviving family members move away. The data obtained show clearly that the
farther back in time one goes, the less cancer is reported. In addition the
relatively small number of lung cancer cases reported is clear evidence of
the effect of data leakage, since lung cancer typically accounts for around
a quarter of all cancers. It is therefore very probable that the results for
the later period 2003 – 05 reflect the reality of cancer incidence in the
locality — a doubled overall risk of cancer with increased relative risks in
the younger age groups.
The relatively higher excess rates in the under 50 age group are hard to
explain and leave questions to be answered by further research. The
11.3-fold excess contains a greater than 15-fold excess risk for women which
is not due to high breast cancer rates. (Relative Risk 15.3; very high
statistical significance). Breast cancer in the 51 – 60 year age group,
however, is 5 times the national average for women of that age (Relative
Risk 4.9; high statistical significance).

Alerted by a significant proportion of the breast cancer victims reporting
that they had sometimes eaten fish from Trawsfynydd Lake, the researchers
conducted a further survey to ascertain the background rate of fish eating.
Trawsfynydd Lake covers almost 5 square Km. It is artificial and has been
used as a cooling lagoon throughout the active life of the power station.
The lake-bottom sediment down to a depth of 300 mm is known to be highly
contaminated with a mean concentration of 4¼ million Bequerels per tonne of
radioactivity. This is more than 10 times the concentration which under UK
legislation is defined as Low Level Radioactive Waste requiring control. The
lake is nevertheless advertised as a sports amenity for swimming, boating
and fishing. The lake trout are regularly monitored by the authorities. The
second survey found that eating fish from the lake was more than twice as
common among the recent cancer patients (i.e. in 2003 - 05) than among the
healthy population. This is a statistically significant finding. The only
cancer patient under 20 found by the study — an 18 year old with lymphoma —
was said to be an avid angler who had fished the lake regularly. [Note: the
expected numbers of cancer cases in young people in this population is 0.102
cases in the ten years.]

There is a notably high incidence of mesothelioma (highly statistically
significant based on 3 patients). This cancer is usually associated with
exposure to asbestos but 20% of cases are thought to be due to radiation,
according to the Oxford Textbook of Pathology. 

Michael Meacher said: [the discovery of the Trawsfynydd cluster] "is a
sensational development. It must be subject to a full inquiry independently
of COMARE. The true health effects of radioactive discharges must be
resolved before any commitment to new nuclear power stations is made."

Transmission in S4C's Y Byd ar Bedwar on  Tuesday 13th June at 20.25 British
Summer Time. 
The programme is in Welsh with English subtitles. 
Outside Wales the only way to see the programme will be via Sky Channel 135,
transmitting at the same time. This is only available within the UK. As far
as we know there is no way for it to be viewed outside the UK. We will put
the programme onto DVDs if we can obtain permission to reproduce it and if
funding becomes available.
A report on the findings will be posted on www.llrc.org after transmission.
There will be a link on the index page. 

As far as the press are concerned this is not embargoed though we are
working on an exclusive in the UK national print media, if they can let up
for a moment from obsessing about show girls' breasts and Wayne Rooney's
metatarsal. It's a far cry from 1983 when the transmission of the Yorkshire
TV documentary Windscale — the Nuclear Laundry shocked the nation by
revealing the Seascale cluster. At that time the Government convened a new
committee within a few days. Now? Don't hold your breath. Please circulate
this as widely as you can and don't worry about cross-postings; now that
Blair and Brown are both saying "new build" it's vital to have the true
health effects taken into full consideration. 

We have sent you this email circular because you are on our database of
people who are concerned about low level radiation and health. If you do not
want to receive information from us please reply, putting “remove from LLRC”
in the subject line.

Low Level Radiation Campaign
bramhall at llrc.org
 Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com 
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