Do nuclear power plants pose a risk to the health of their neighbors? While France still plans to rely on them for the majority of its energy production Regarding nuclear power, it must be acknowledged that this issue is still not entirely resolved. Certainly, the risk of cancer linked to accidents at these power plants is better documented, notably with the example of Fukushimain Japan.
But it becomes more difficult to assert such a risk outside of these exceptional events. However, it is known that, even with normal operation, these power plants can emit a low irradiationposing a potential risk to employees working on-site. But what about people living nearby, who could be exposed to much lower levels of radiation, but for decades? A Harvard University study published on February 23, 2026, in the journal Nature Communications attempts to answer this question by cross-referencing cancer mortality data from each US county with their proximity to nuclear power plants.
A worrying correlation
In the United States, the world's largest producer of nuclear energy (accounting for approximately 30 million TEUs of global production), nuclear power plants are unevenly distributed across the country. The nation has more than 90 nuclear reactors, located in 28 states, primarily concentrated in the eastern part of the country. Researchers analyzed each county's exposure to these nuclear power plants, considering areas within 200 kilometers of one or more of them. They then correlated these proximity locations with each county's medical data from 2000 to 2018 to determine if there was any link between this exposure and cancer mortality rates. The result: a correlation was found between proximity to nuclear power plants and cancer mortality.
“ I think the study's methodology is perfectly sound; I have absolutely no complaints about it., says Florent de Vathaire, an epidemiologist and expert in radiation at the University of Paris-Saclay. However, the result is not consistent with current thinking, unless emissions from American nuclear power plants are higher than we believe. We conducted a similar analysis of French nuclear power plants about twenty years ago, and we found nothing. Unlike exposure caused by nuclear tests, as was the case in French Polynesia, where his team highlighted an increased risk of thyroid cancer in a study published in 2023 in JAMA Network Open. “But here we're talking about doses much higher than those generated by a nuclear power plant." he reminds us.
A study of unparalleled power
The study's authors acknowledge that their findings contradict much of the previous research on the subject. They attribute this difference to a higher statistical power, allowing them to account for the cumulative effect caused by the proximity of a single county to multiple nuclear power plants. They also point out that many of these cancers are rare, requiring very large-scale studies to detect them. This contrasts with most previous studies, which focused on a single geographic area and therefore may have too few participants to identify any correlation.
“ We must ask ourselves this question: if this link exists, is it possible that we haven't seen it before? Have we, in the past, conducted a sufficiently large study, considering the millions of deaths from cancer? taken into account by This study, which would have allowed us to see this link? wonders Florent de Vathaire. This is important, because There are people who are carriers of mutations rare ones who predisposesnt to radiation-induced cancer, And If you conduct a study on small numbers, you won't have them, at because of this rarity. However, in these more susceptible individuals, the risk of cancer increases even with very low doses of radiation. It is therefore possible that previous studies were simply not powerful enough to detect these rare cases and thus this increased risk of cancer. Since this is the first study to consider the entire United States and analyze long-term risk based on distance from nuclear power plants, it is plausible that it is also the first powerful enough to highlight this link.
A risk that increases with the duration of exposure.
And these results, when examined in detail, seem plausible. They show that the risk of death from cancer is particularly high in people over 65, with a relative risk that increases by approximately 20. According to this analysis, proximity to nuclear power plants is responsible for about 4,200 deaths per year.
“Cvariations by age group are consistentes with what we know Today, because theThe effects of radiation become apparent after a very long latency period., explains Florent de Vathaire. Cis true for cancers, as well as for heart conditions, for hearing conditions and for allyouthe others diseases caused by radiation.”
The authors clarify that their study shows a correlation, but not necessarily a causal link, between proximity to nuclear power plants and an increased risk of cancer mortality. They emphasize, however, that these results are sufficiently concerning to warrant further investigation, with more in-depth studies on the potential consequences of long-term exposure to nuclear power plants.
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