Nuclear power greener/A critique of Cancer Rates after the Three Mile Island Nuclear Accident and Proximity of Residence to the Plant

(Review Paper) Cited in Nuclear power greener/A critique of Cancer Rates after the Three Mile Island Nuclear Accident and Proximity of Residence to the Plant

Increase in cancer post Three Mile Island disaster

Residents living near the Three Mile Island nuclear plant were examined to see if the increase in cancer rates was as a result of the nuclear power disaster. This took place after the disaster, in 1979, where the nuclear plant overheated resulting in a nuclear meltdown.

Methods

Residents within a 10 - mile radius of the Three Mile Island were studied to see the effects from the nuclear plant. Study tracts ranging anywhere from 500 - 9,500 people were studied to see if there was an increase in cancer rates among the population. The study was over an eleven year period and focused on four categories of cancer; leukemias, lymphomas, honnonally dependency, and a group labelled all cancers

Results

The study showed a distinct correlation between cancer rates and residency near the nuclear plant. There was an increase in cancer to those who lived near the Three Mile Island nuclear plant after the nuclear meltdown. The increase in cancer rates were found both among males and females and there was an overall increased diagnosis of tumors for those living within close proximity of the power plant .