This study was designed to investigate cancer mortality in the population aged 0 to 64 years residing around the 13 main French nuclear sites in operation before 1985. Five hundred and three communes located within 16 km of the installation were identified and their populations were followed from 1968 to 1989. A total of 8,970,000 person-years of observation was accumulated. The number of cancer deaths and the number of deaths for cancers possibly related to radiation observed in these communes were compared to national mortality rates. There was no difference in overall cancer mortality or in the risk of mortality by cancer site except for breast cancer, for which a deficit was observed in the vicinity of nuclear sites. After correction for the multiplicity of tests, this difference was not significant. Our study showed no excess cancer mortality in the population aged 0 to 64 years residing around French nuclear sites.