Post by Joe Neubarth on Dec 21, 2011 18:03:41 GMT -5
Scientist links cancer to nuclear power
The cancer rate in north central Texas has increased alarmingly since the Comanche Peak nuclear power plant started up in 1990, the keynote speaker at a University of North Texas conference said Monday.
Ernest J. Sternglass of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Monday's keynote speaker, read his paper, "The Health Effects of Nuclear Fallout and Releases from Nuclear Power Plants."
Dr. Sternglass said his research has uncovered convincing evidence of a large increase in cancer rates since the dawn of the nuclear age.
He also said studies in the north central Texas area indicate large increases in cancer rates since the start-up of the Comanche Peak nuclear power plant in Somervell County southwest of Fort Worth.
The Texas Cancer Center and the Texas Department of Health compared statistics for the first five years of the plant's operation, 1990 to 1994, to the previous five-year period, 1985 to 1989.
Dr. Sternglass said the data indicates that cancer mortality in the counties surrounding the power plant - Somervell, Hood, Johnson and Erath - increased dramatically, 27 percent, during the second five-year period while the rate for the state increased 15 percent for the same period.
In Hood County, breast cancer increased 190 percent over the previous five-year period, and total breast cancer deaths for all four counties increased by 51 percent while the statewide increase was 12 percent for the same period.
www.state.nv.us/nucwaste/news2001/nn11105.htm
The cancer rate in north central Texas has increased alarmingly since the Comanche Peak nuclear power plant started up in 1990, the keynote speaker at a University of North Texas conference said Monday.
Ernest J. Sternglass of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Monday's keynote speaker, read his paper, "The Health Effects of Nuclear Fallout and Releases from Nuclear Power Plants."
Dr. Sternglass said his research has uncovered convincing evidence of a large increase in cancer rates since the dawn of the nuclear age.
He also said studies in the north central Texas area indicate large increases in cancer rates since the start-up of the Comanche Peak nuclear power plant in Somervell County southwest of Fort Worth.
The Texas Cancer Center and the Texas Department of Health compared statistics for the first five years of the plant's operation, 1990 to 1994, to the previous five-year period, 1985 to 1989.
Dr. Sternglass said the data indicates that cancer mortality in the counties surrounding the power plant - Somervell, Hood, Johnson and Erath - increased dramatically, 27 percent, during the second five-year period while the rate for the state increased 15 percent for the same period.
In Hood County, breast cancer increased 190 percent over the previous five-year period, and total breast cancer deaths for all four counties increased by 51 percent while the statewide increase was 12 percent for the same period.
www.state.nv.us/nucwaste/news2001/nn11105.htm