An individual living near the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant was exposed to the highest level of external radiation doses reported so far among residents, according to the prefectural government.
An individual living near the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant was exposed to the highest level of external radiation doses reported so far among residents, according to the prefectural government.
However, most of the residents studied were exposed to relatively low doses of radiation from the crippled Fukushima plant, the government said.
The prefecture on June 12 released estimated doses of external radiation exposure on 15,200 people over the four months after the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami crippled the plant on March 11 last year.
One citizen was exposed to 25.1 millisieverts of radiation after the nuclear accident started, breaking the previous high of 23 millisieverts, according to the estimates. The central government has set the standard for evacuation at 20 millisieverts a year.
The citizen is a resident of the planned evacuation zone who stayed in the area for more than a month after the nuclear crisis began.
The prefecture’s estimates were made based on detailed records kept by Fukushima residents for the four months after the disaster. The estimates do not include workers at the nuclear plant.
Of around 24,300 people whose estimated exposure doses had already been released, about 96 percent were below 5 millisieverts.
Separately, in a survey of evacuees on mental health issues related to the disaster, 20 percent were judged to likely be in need of counseling.
Regarding children who were junior high school students or younger, 18 percent of the 13,000 who responded by February were considered likely to need some form of assistance or counseling in the future. The figure is nearly twice as high as the percentage for children under normal circumstances.
On the adult side, 24 percent of the 35,000 people who responded to the survey were deemed to be in a high-risk category regarding mental health issues.