First Cancer Case Confirmed From Fukushima Cleanup (nhk.or.jp)

AmiMoJo writes: Japan's labor ministry has confirmed the first cancer case related to work at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant. Following on from reports of elevated levels of child cancer and 1,600 civilians deaths from the evacuation, this is the first time that one of the 44,000 people involved in the clean up operation has been diagnosed with cancer resulting directly from the accident. The worker was involved in recovery and cleanup efforts at the plant after it suffered a meltdown in March, 2011. He was in his late 30s at the time, and has been diagnosed with leukemia. The ministry has approved workers' compensation. Radiation exposure has been linked to the onset of leukemia.

Comments

Re:Related?

[AmiMoJo]

That is a gross oversimplification. Receiving a dose of 200uSv via exposure to something like x-rays is very different to being exposed to 200uSv that includes particulate matter that will accumulate inside the body. The former is a one time "hit", the latter is much more likely to lead to cancer because the material can sit inside the body slowly damaging DNA.

Sadly that XKCD chart and nonsense like the "banana equivalent dose" have spread a lot of misinformation about this. Not all types of radiation exposure are equal.