§ Mr. Llew SmithTo ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of the relationship between the operation of the nuclear plants at Wylfa and Trawsfynydd and the incidence of cancer recorded in the latest Welsh cancer register for Gwynedd.
§ Mr. Gwilym JonesThe latest published registration rates for individual cancers in Gwynedd are contained in "Cancer Registration in Wales: 1984–86".
Registration rates for all cancers in Gwynedd, while not the highest, are 4 per cent. higher than for Wales as a whole, taking account of the age distribution of the Gwynedd population. The main cancers which contribute to the higher registration rates are of the stomach, colon, pancreas, lung, gall bladder, kidney, breast, uterus, ovary and prostate, and myeloid leukaemia. The pattern of a higher incidence of some cancers in Gwynedd has been known for more than 80 years.
463WCurrent expert opinion on the risks of exposure to radiation indicates that the low radiation doses to the population that may have arisen from Trawsfynydd or Wylfa could not be the cause of this higher incidence.
However, the registration data for Gwynedd are being examined currently to determine the incidence of certain other types of cancer in the vicinity of Trawsfynydd and Wylfa nuclear installations. The results will be made available in due course.