BURNHAM North's 70 per cent excess of breast cancer has been blamed on a nuclear power station. Stop Hinkley, the campaigners against the Hinkley Power Station near Bridgwater, claim that Burnham North district had an alarming number of cancer cases betwe

BURNHAM North's 70 per cent excess of breast cancer has been blamed on a nuclear power station.Stop Hinkley, the campaigners against the Hinkley Power Station near Bridgwater, claim that Burnham North district had an alarming number of cancer cases between 1995 and 2005, but the figures have been rubbished by a Government watchdog.The figures, released by The Office of National Statistics, were analysed by Dr Chris Busby from Green Audit who was commissioned by the group.A spokesman for Stop Hinkley said: "There were 41 deaths from breast cancer recorded over the period when only 24 would be expected."The new statistics confirm a worrying trend first discovered in research by Dr Busby in 2000 where Burnham North stood out from 150 electoral wards studied for cancer deaths with twice the expected number."The figures speak for themselves and all sorts of white-washing have not stood up to reasoned examination. Some environmental cause is triggering these cancers and logic points to Hinkley's constant sea and air discharges of radioactive particles upwind of the town, a good reason to shut these crumbling reactors."Dr Busby said: "This clearly shows that the breast cancer cluster in Burnham North is a convincing phenomenon and is clearly, in my opinion, related to releases or a release from Hinkley Point."But British Energy has hit out at the claims, saying that living in close proximity to nuclear power stations is not linked to excessive risk to cancer. A spokesman for the company said: "Previous national research has been carried out independently by the Government watchdog, the Committee of Medical Aspects of Radiation in the Environment (COMARE), into the effects on the general public of living near nuclear power stations. Its report was released in March 2003. "Its conclusion, backed by the local medical authority, is that there is 'no evidence of excessive risk of cancer mortality' by living in close proximity to nuclear power stations. "All emissions from our nuclear power stations are strictly controlled and monitored in conjunction with the Environment Agency and Food Standards Agency and we are well within the safe limits set.