§ Mr. MarlowTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will make a statement on the findings of the National Radiological Protection Board, NRPB-R276, pages 100 and 109, in respect of the incidence of childhood cancer linked to natural background alpha radiation. [21533]
§ Mr. HoramThe report NRPB-R276 entitled "Risks of Leukaemia and other Cancers in Seascale from all Sources of Ionising Radiation", copies of which are available in the Library, calculates radiation doses and associated risks of cancer to children and young persons in Seascale village in west Cumbria. The calculations were based on a population of 1,348 children born and living in the village between 1945 and 1992 and followed to age 24 years, or 1992, whichever came sooner.
In this population, the total number of radiation-induced fatal leukaemias and non-Hodgkin's lymphomas arising from natural background radiation over this time period was calculated to be 0.28. High-LET-high energy-radiation was calculated to contribute about 0.12 cases. Leukaemia in children is now more successfully treated and estimates of fatality from leukaemias these days would be substantially lower than those calculated for the study population. The risk of fatal cancers in this population, other than leukaemia and NHL, was calculated to be 0.02 for high-LET radiation.
If my hon. Friend wishes to know more about this study, perhaps he would care to write to me.