A
Fukushima prefectural government survey on residents' external radiation
exposure showed those in government-set evacuation zones were likely exposed to
annualized radiation doses of up to 14 millisieverts, government sources said
Friday (December 9).
This is the first statistical data indicating
external radiation exposure among people living around the crippled Fukushima
No 1 nuclear power plant.
The prefectural government sent questionnaires
to about 29,000 residents from Iitatemura, Namiemachi and the Yamakiya area in
Kawamatamachi, which are designated as in either a no-entry zone or expanded
evacuation zone, between late June and mid-July, ahead of those in other areas.
The survey covered the four months after the crisis began.
The figure is based on analysis of
questionnaires from 1,730 people who responded early. The prefectural Fukushima
Medical University and the National Institute of Radiological Sciences analysed
the results of the survey.
About half of the surveyed residents from the
three municipalities are believed to have been exposed to external radiation of
at least the government-set annual limit of 1 millisievert, according to the
sources.
While the prefecture projected the annualised
external radiation exposure would be up to 5 millisieverts for most residents,
the figure was 10 millisieverts or higher for about 10 residents.
Among those examined, a Fukushima plant worker
was estimated to have been exposed to a maximum annualised dose of 37 millisieverts,
while the highest dose among non-plant workers was 14 millisieverts. The
resident is suspected to have gone through a highly contaminated area at the
time of evacuation, according to the sources.
The prefectural government has been conducting
health surveys on those who lived in the prefecture when the crisis broke out
at the plant.
The prefectural government plans to release
the survey results by the end of December.
Meanwhile, the city government of Koriyama,
also in the prefecture, announced Thursday four primary and middle school
students' cumulative radiation exposure exceeded 0.40 millisievert in the month
from October 5. The dose translates into an annualized dose of 4 millisieverts
or more, city officials said.
The data was obtained from measurements by
dosimeters that gauge cumulative radiation exposure. The city government
distributed the dosimeters to 25,551 primary and middle school students. The
cumulative radiation exposure levels among the students ranged between 0.01
millisieverts and 0.45 millisieverts, the city said.
"Experts told us the figures (for the
four students) do not represent health problems, but we'd like to question the
students to find out why their radiation exposure levels were high," a
city official said.
The International Commission on Radiological
Protection sets the annual limit for radiation exposure at 20 to 100
millisieverts at the time of an emergency and 1 to 20 millisieverts after the
disaster has been contained.
News Desk
The Yomiuri Shimbun
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