Gov’t eyes 100 bil. yen fund to track Fukushima residents’ health
Jun. 24, 2011
The government plans to establish a 100 billion yen fund to keep track of the health of all residents of Fukushima Prefecture for 30 years following radiation leaks at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, government sources said Thursday.
The government plans to allocate 78 billion yen in a second supplementary budget for the current fiscal year and plans to ask the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., to contribute 25 billion yen to the fund.
The study is aimed at managing and monitoring the health of the prefecture's residents amid concern about the long-term impact from continuing radiation leaks at the plant more than three months after the start of the crisis.
Around 2 million people, including those who have evacuated to areas outside the prefecture since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami crippled the nuclear plant, would be covered by the study.
Under the plan, the state-established fund will consign the study to the prefecture, which would then estimate cumulative radiation levels and run blood tests for all those who wish to participate in the tests.
The central government and the Fukushima prefectural government plan to begin conducting the study in areas with higher levels of radiation as soon as the extra budget clears parliament, after working out a specific checklist of items and methods of assessment, the sources said.
The government plans to decide on the outlines of the budget by the end of this month so it can submit it to parliament in mid-July. The plant lost its critical cooling functions in the March earthquake and tsunami, and its damaged reactors have leaked massive amounts of radioactive materials into the air and sea.
(Distributed by Kyodo News on June 24, 2011)
The government plans to allocate 78 billion yen in a second supplementary budget for the current fiscal year and plans to ask the plant's operator, Tokyo Electric Power Co., to contribute 25 billion yen to the fund.
The study is aimed at managing and monitoring the health of the prefecture's residents amid concern about the long-term impact from continuing radiation leaks at the plant more than three months after the start of the crisis.
Around 2 million people, including those who have evacuated to areas outside the prefecture since the March 11 earthquake and tsunami crippled the nuclear plant, would be covered by the study.
Under the plan, the state-established fund will consign the study to the prefecture, which would then estimate cumulative radiation levels and run blood tests for all those who wish to participate in the tests.
The central government and the Fukushima prefectural government plan to begin conducting the study in areas with higher levels of radiation as soon as the extra budget clears parliament, after working out a specific checklist of items and methods of assessment, the sources said.
The government plans to decide on the outlines of the budget by the end of this month so it can submit it to parliament in mid-July. The plant lost its critical cooling functions in the March earthquake and tsunami, and its damaged reactors have leaked massive amounts of radioactive materials into the air and sea.
(Distributed by Kyodo News on June 24, 2011)
