RERF to start health survey of 20,000 Fukushima nuclear power plant workers in fiscal 2015
Mar. 11, 2015
by Yota Baba, Staff Writer
The Radiation Effects Research Foundation (RERF) will begin a health survey of 20,000 workers who labored to cope with the emergency situation at the Fukushima Daiichi (No. 1) nuclear power plant during the first nine months following the accident in March 2011. Starting in fiscal 2015, the workers will be surveyed for the rest of their lives. This is the first time that RERF, a Hiroshima-based institute, is pursuing a health survey of people who are not A-bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki or their children. RERF will seek to clarify how long-term exposure to low-level radiation affects human health.
According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, this will be the first long-term health study of power plant workers. The ministry chose RERF and its affiliated organizations from among other applicants.
The 20,000 workers were working inside and nearby the buildings which house the nuclear reactors between March and December 2011, during which time the radiation exposure limit was temporarily raised to 250 millisieverts, which is 2.5 times the usual dose limit. Among those workers, which include employees of the Tokyo Electric Power Company, 174 were exposed to more than 100 millisieverts of radiation, exceeding the designated five years’ limit for normal operations.
The 20,000 workers live around the country. Among the five prefectures of the Chugoku Region, located in the westernmost part of Japan’s main island, Hiroshima has the largest number, with 120, followed by 81 in Shimane and 66 in Yamaguchi.
The health survey was begun in Fukushima Prefecture in February. Those living in other prefectures will be asked to take part in the study after this summer. If they agree, they will be interviewed and blood samples will be taken. These blood samples will then be preserved for a long period of time. If workers develop cancer or other diseases in the future, their blood samples will be studied to determine whether there are chromosomal abnormalities, and the relationship between their diseases and exposure doses will be analyzed. RERF will look for a facility in each prefecture to support the survey work so that workers can undergo a checkup at a local facility once every four years or so.
The estimated cost for the health survey up to fiscal 2018 is 2.289 billion yen. At a press conference held on March 4, Toshiteru Okubo, the chairman of RERF, said, “The study will gauge whether low-dose exposure to radiation, including internal exposure or accumulation of a daily dose, affects health. It is also highly significant in that the results will be compared with those of studies of A-bomb survivors.”
(Originally published on March 5, 2015)
The Radiation Effects Research Foundation (RERF) will begin a health survey of 20,000 workers who labored to cope with the emergency situation at the Fukushima Daiichi (No. 1) nuclear power plant during the first nine months following the accident in March 2011. Starting in fiscal 2015, the workers will be surveyed for the rest of their lives. This is the first time that RERF, a Hiroshima-based institute, is pursuing a health survey of people who are not A-bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki or their children. RERF will seek to clarify how long-term exposure to low-level radiation affects human health.
According to the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, this will be the first long-term health study of power plant workers. The ministry chose RERF and its affiliated organizations from among other applicants.
The 20,000 workers were working inside and nearby the buildings which house the nuclear reactors between March and December 2011, during which time the radiation exposure limit was temporarily raised to 250 millisieverts, which is 2.5 times the usual dose limit. Among those workers, which include employees of the Tokyo Electric Power Company, 174 were exposed to more than 100 millisieverts of radiation, exceeding the designated five years’ limit for normal operations.
The 20,000 workers live around the country. Among the five prefectures of the Chugoku Region, located in the westernmost part of Japan’s main island, Hiroshima has the largest number, with 120, followed by 81 in Shimane and 66 in Yamaguchi.
The health survey was begun in Fukushima Prefecture in February. Those living in other prefectures will be asked to take part in the study after this summer. If they agree, they will be interviewed and blood samples will be taken. These blood samples will then be preserved for a long period of time. If workers develop cancer or other diseases in the future, their blood samples will be studied to determine whether there are chromosomal abnormalities, and the relationship between their diseases and exposure doses will be analyzed. RERF will look for a facility in each prefecture to support the survey work so that workers can undergo a checkup at a local facility once every four years or so.
The estimated cost for the health survey up to fiscal 2018 is 2.289 billion yen. At a press conference held on March 4, Toshiteru Okubo, the chairman of RERF, said, “The study will gauge whether low-dose exposure to radiation, including internal exposure or accumulation of a daily dose, affects health. It is also highly significant in that the results will be compared with those of studies of A-bomb survivors.”
(Originally published on March 5, 2015)
