First Fukushima Worker Wins Cancer Compensation Case
Up until this case none of the workers at the Fukushima plant have been compensated for contracting cancer while working at the plant. Finally Japan’s labor ministry has decided to provide compensation to a worker who was able to show he developed cancer under its guidelines from working at Fukushima and other nuclear power plants.
In order to be considered for compensation workers at the nuclear plants have to show they were exposed to more the 5 millisieverts of radiation within a year an d developed cancer afterwards.
The man worked at various nuclear plants and Fukushima from November 2011 to December 2013 and he was diagnosed with acute myelogenous leukemia, a cancer of the blood and bone marrow, after he completed his work there.
Japan’s labor ministry ruled in his favor that he contracted leukemia cleaning up Fukushima. It determined he had been exposed to 15.7 millisieverts from the cleanup of Fukushima and 19.8 millisieverts in total from all of the plants.
This is the first case concerning Fukushima that a worker has been granted compensation. The ministry said 13 nuclear plant workers have been granted compensation for work-related cancer.
Tags: cancer awareness
