Mortality Among Workers Monitored for Radiation Exposure at the French Nuclear Fuel Company

ABSTRACT

A cohort of 9,285 nuclear workers employed at the French company AREVA NC specializing in the nuclear fuel cycle was established. Vital status, causes of death, employment characteristics and annual exposure to ionizing radiation were reconstructed for each individual over the time period 1977–2004. Standardized mortality ratios (SMRs) were computed using national mortality rates as an external reference. Tests for trends in mortality with duration of employment and cumulative external dose were performed. The all-cause and all-cancer mortality was significantly lower than expected from the French population. No significant excess among cancer sites studied was observed. Significant positive trends with cumulative dose were observed for colon and liver cancer and for respiratory diseases. Isolated significant trends should be carefully interpreted and considered in line with the large number of trend tests performed.

KEYWORDS:

• epidemiology
• mortality
• nuclear radiation
• workers

Acknowledgments

This work was supported as part of a bilateral agreement between IRSN and AREVA NC. The authors gratefully thank Ms Telle-Lamberton, Ms Hitz, Mr Gelas, and Mr Quesne who helped with this study. The authors thank Mr Marcellin, Ms Truffert, and Ms Bois for their help in the reconstruction of dosimetric records and Ms Thierry-Chef for her help with the dosimetric interpretation.

Notes

^a p values of a 2-sided trend test.

^bIncluding 30 unknown causes of death.

^cCumulated dose lagged by 10 years (mSv).

^bCumulated dose lagged by 10 years (mSv).