DISASTER MEDICINE No. 1 •2026

https://doi.org/10.33266/2070-1004-2026-1

CLINICAL ASPECTS OF DISASTER MEDICINE 

Original article

Conduct a Comparative Analysis of the Relative Risk of Morbidity among Children Living in Areas where Nuclear Power Plants with High-Power Channel Reactors and Water-Cooled Power Reactors are Located

Lyaginskaya A.M. 1, Shandala N.K. 1, Metlyaev E.G. 1, Maksimova P.V. 1, Kuptsov V.V. 1

Download the article in pdf format

1 State Research Center – Burnasyan Federal Medical Biophysical Center of Federal Medical Biological Agency, Moscow, Russian Federation

UDC 616-036.22-053:614.876:621.039.5

P. 42-48

 

Summary. The aim of this study is to conduct a comparative analysis of the relative risk of morbidity among children living in areas where nuclear power plants (NPP) with HPCR – high-power channel reactor and WCPR – water-cooled power reactor are located.
Research materials and methods. Data on the incidence of disease among children aged 0-14 years in the satellite towns of NPPs No. 1 and No. 2 with HPCR and NPPs No. 3 and No. 4 with WCPR were analyzed.
The study materials are medical statistics data from the federal statistical observation form No. 12 “Information on the number of diseases registered in patients living in the service area of a medical organization”.
Research results and their analysis. It was found that the total relative risk of morbidity among children living near nuclear power plants with HPCR-type and WCPR-type reactors is not significantly different: ΣRRHPCR/WCPR=14.92 and ΣRRWCPR/HPCR=14.80, therefore the relative risk is RRHPCR/WCPR=1.01. Despite lower values for the total relative radiation risk of morbidity (ΣRRHPCR/WCPR=5.30; ΣRRWCPR/HPCR=6.10), its share in the total relative risk among children in satellite towns of nuclear power plants with WCPR is higher than among children in towns hosting nuclear power plants with WCPR – 28.0% and 26.2%, respectively, which does not affect the overall assessment of morbidity among the child population, which corresponds to the average indicators for the Russian Federation.
Therefore, it has been found that radiation is not a leading factor affecting the health of children in cities near nuclear power plants, and that childhood morbidity rates correspond to data for the country as a whole.

Key words: children aged 0–14 years, general morbidity, high-power channel reactors, nuclear power plants, pressurized water reactors, relative radiation risks, relative risk of morbidity

For citation: Lyaginskaya A.M., Shandala N.K., Metlyaev E.G., Maksimova P.V., Kuptsov V.V. Conduct a Comparative Analysis of the Relative Risk of Morbidity among Children Living in Areas where Nuclear Power Plants with High-Power Channel Reactors and Water-Cooled Power Reactors are Located. Meditsina Katastrof = Disaster Medicine. 2026;1:42-48 (In Russ.). doi: 10.33266/2070-1004-2026-1-42-48

 

REFERENCES

  1. Normy Radiatsionnoy Bezopasnosti = Radiation Safety Standards. SanPiN 2.6.1.2523-09 NRB-99/2009 (In Russ.).
  2. Barchukov V.G., Kochetkov O.A., Fomin G.V., et al. Spread of tritium and its compounds by air under normal operating conditions of the Balakovo NPP. ANRI. 2016;1:49-54. (In Russ.).
  3. Il’in L.A., Ivanov A.A., Kochetkov O.A., et al. Tekhnogennoye Oblucheniye i Bezopasnost’ Cheloveka. Radiatsionnaya Meditsina = Technogenic Irradiation and Human Safety. Radiation Medicine. Manual. In 4 vol. 1999–2004. Moscow, IzdAT Publ., 2006. 304 p. (In Russ.).
  4. Nazarov E.I., Kruzhalov A.V., Vasyanovich M.Ye., et al. 14C in Tree Rings in the Vicinity of NPPs with RBMK Reactors. Radiouglerod = Radiocarbon. 2023;65;6:1343-1350 (In Russ.). Doi: 10.1017/RDC.2023.125.
  5. Barchukov V.G., Kochetkov O.A., Klochkov V.N., et al. Spread of Carbon-14 in the Environment under Normal Operating Conditions of the Kursk NPP. Meditsinskaya Radiologiya i Radiatsionnaya Bezopasnost’ = Medical Radiology and Radiation Safety. 2023;68;1:25–33 (In Russ.).
  6. Metlyayev Ye.G., Kuptsov V.V., Shandala N.K., et al. Comparative Analysis of the Relative Risk of Morbidity of the Population of the “Uranium Legacy” Territory and the Territories Influenced by Nuclear Power Plants. Radiatsiya i Risk = Radiation and Risk. 2025;34;2:109-121 (In Russ.).
  7. Monitoring Sostoyaniya Zdorov’ya Naseleniya v Rayonakh Razmeshcheniya Atomnykh Stantsiy = Monitoring the Health Status of the Population in Areas where Nuclear Power Plants are Located: Report on Research Work. Moscow, FMBTS Im. A.I.Burnazyana FMBA Rossii Publ., 2019. 145 p. (In Russ.).
  8. Rezul’taty Radiatsionno-Gigiyenicheskoy Pasportizatsii v Sub”yektakh RF za 2017 god: Radiatsionno-Gigiyenicheskiy Pasport RF = Results of Radiation-Hygienic Certification in the Constituent Entities of the Russian Federation for 2017. Radiation-Hygienic Passport of the Russian Federation. Moscow, Federal’nyy Tsentr Gigiyeny i Epidemiologii Rospotrebnadzora Publ., 2024. 36 p. (In Russ.).
  9. Zdravookhraneniye v Rossii. Statisticheskiy Sbornik = Healthcare in Russia. Statistical Digest. Moscow, Rosstat Publ., 2021. 173 p. (In Russ.).

 

The material was received 12.08.25; the article after peer review procedure 14.08.25; the Editorial Board accepted the article for publication 16.03.26
Copyright © 2026 “Disaster Medicine” Journal | Powered by “Disaster Medicine” Journal