A new study led by researchers at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health links residential proximity to nuclear power plants with higher cancer incidence in the US state of Massachusetts, reporting a clear distance-based gradient in risk.
Published on Dec. 17 in Springer’s Environmental Health, the research was conducted by Harvard’s Department of Environmental Health under the surpervision of senior author and professor of environmental sciences Petros Koutrakis and author Yazan Alwadi, a PhD student.
What the researchers examined
To expand a limited and mixed body of epidemiological evidence on nuclear power plants’ health impacts, the team assessed how close Massachusetts ZIP codes were to nearby nuclear facilities and compared that proximity with cancer incidence data from 2000 to 2018 collected by the Massachusetts Cancer Registry.
They used an inverse-distance weighted proximity metric, accounting for multiple plants within range, and adjusted for factors including PM2.5 air pollution, sociodemographic and environmental variables, and healthcare-related covariates.
Massachusetts residents live within roughly 120 km of seven nuclear facilities considered in the analysis: Pilgrim (MA), Yankee Rowe (MA), Seabrook Station (NH), Vermont Yankee (VT), Millstone (CT), Connecticut Yankee (CT) and Indian Point (NY).
Key findings: risk declines with distance
Across the study period, the authors estimated 20,618 cancer cases were attributable to proximity to nuclear power plants—10,815 among women and 9,803 among men—corresponding to attributable fractions of 4.1% for women and 3.5% for men.
Relative risks were highest among older adults and fell as distance increased, with risk declining sharply beyond roughly 30 kilometers from a facility. At an estimated 2 km from a plant, relative risks for all cancers combined included:
- Women: 1.52 (ages 55–64), 2.00 (65–74), 2.53 (75+)
- Men: 1.97 (55–64), 1.75 (65–74), 1.63 (75+)
The youngest group examined (ages 45–54) did not show statistically significant associations in either sex.
Cancer types linked in site-specific analysis
In a separate cross-sectional analysis, the study reported statistically significant associations between proximity and incidence for a broad range of cancers, with variation by sex and age group. Cancers highlighted included lung, prostate, breast, colorectal, bladder, melanoma, leukemia, thyroid, uterine, kidney, laryngeal, pancreatic, oral, esophageal and Hodgkin lymphoma.
The paper notes that these site-specific results were not adjusted for multiple comparisons.
Why it matters now
The authors frame their findings against renewed interest in nuclear power as a decarbonization tool, arguing that the results underscore the need for continued epidemiologic monitoring, particularly in communities living closest to nuclear facilities.
They also outline limitations, including the use of ZIP code–level (ecological) data rather than individual exposure measurements, and the lack of direct dosimetry or residential histories.
