Two million Fukushima residents to undergo radiation health checks

More than two million residents living in the region surrounding Japan's damaged nuclear power plant will undergo longterm health checks starting from this month.

By Danielle Demetriou in Tokyo

7:13AM BST 20 Jun 2011

The health of residents in Fukushima prefecture in northeast Japan will be monitored over the next 30 years in order to ease growing concerns surrounding radiation contamination.

The health checks will start at the end of the month, focusing firstly on 28,000 residents in the three communities currently nearest to the power plant – Iitake village, Kawamata and Namie – before expanding across the region.

Plans for the health checks were confirmed at a weekend meeting by Fukushima prefectural government authorities in response to growing local concern surrounding the health implications of the on-going nuclear crisis.

"Everyone is included in this and will be tested over a long-term period, for 30 years or longer," a spokesman for Fukushima prefectural government told the Telegraph. "We will start with 28,000 residents, looking at their daily behavioural patterns to determine risks levels."

The project is believed to be unprecedented in terms of the number of residents involved and the predicted time span of three decades during which their health will be monitored.

Residents are expected to receive questionnaires to determine the degree of their contamination risks, with subsequent tests including examinations for internal radiation contamination.

The findings will be stored on a database created by Fukushima Medical University in order to monitor the longterm potential effects of radiation exposure in the region.

Residents in the Fukushima region have expressed growing concern surrounding the possible longterm health risks, in particular for children, triggered by the on-going nuclear power plant crisis.

Officials are continuing to work around the clock to regain control at Fukushima nuclear power plant after the tsunami knocked out crucial cooling functions, leading to three reactor meltdowns and radiation leaks into the air, soil and sea.

The new health plan was confirmed just days after the authorities also announced that 34,000 schoolchildren in the region aged between four and 15 will be given radiation dosimetres to hang around their necks in order to monitor their exposure.