Global InformationFukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster casualties information
 Satellite image on 16 March 2011 of the four damaged reactor buildings | |
| Date | 11 March 2011 |
|---|---|
| Location | Ōkuma, Fukushima, Japan |
| Coordinates | 37°25′17″N 141°1′57″E / 37.42139°N 141.03250°E |
| Outcome | INES Level 7 (ratings by Japanese authorities as of 11 April)[1][2] |
| Deaths | 1 confirmed from radiation (lung cancer, 4 years later),[3] and 2,202 from evacuation.[4] |
| Non-fatal injuries | 6 with cancer or leukemia,[5] 37 with physical injuries,[6] 2 workers taken to hospital with radiation burns[7][8] |
| External videos | |
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 24 hours live camera for Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster on YouTube, certified by Tokyo Electric Power Co. Inc. |
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident (福島第一原子力発電所事故, Fukushima Dai-ichi (ⓘ) genshiryoku hatsudensho jiko) was a series of equipment failures, nuclear meltdowns, and releases of radioactive materials at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, following the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011.[9][10] It was the largest nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl disaster of 1986,[11] and the radiation released exceeded official safety guidelines. Despite this, there were no deaths caused by acute radiation syndrome. Given the uncertain health effects of low-dose radiation, cancer deaths cannot be ruled out.[12] However, studies by the World Health Organization and Tokyo University have shown that no discernible increase in the rate of cancer deaths is expected.[13] Predicted future cancer deaths due to accumulated radiation exposures in the population living near Fukushima have ranged[14] in the academic literature from none[15] to hundreds.[12]
Many deaths are attributed to the evacuation and subsequent long-term displacement following emergency mass evacuation.[16][17] For evacuation, the estimated number of deaths during and immediately after transit range from 34 to "greater than 50".[13][18][19] The victims include hospital inpatients and elderly people at nursing facilities who died from causes such as hypothermia, deterioration of underlying medical problems, and dehydration. The old people and already sick, were more likely to be injured because of being relocated than damaged by radiation.
For long-term displacement, many people (mostly sick and elderly) died at an increased rate[18] while in temporary housing and shelters. Degraded living conditions and separation from support networks[20] are likely contributing factors. As of 27 February 2017[update], the Fukushima prefecture government counted 2,129 "disaster-related deaths" in the prefecture.[21][19][22][23] This value exceeds the number that have died in Fukushima prefecture directly from the earthquake and tsunami.[24] "Disaster-related deaths" are deaths attributed to disasters and are not caused by direct physical trauma, but does not distinguish between people displaced by the nuclear disaster compared to the earthquake / tsunami. As of year 2016, among those deaths, 1,368 have been listed as "related to the nuclear power plant" according to media analysis.[25] Reports have pointed out that many of these deaths may have been caused by the evacuation period being too long, and that residents could have been allowed to return to their homes earlier in order to reduce the total related death toll.[26] According to UNSCEAR, evacuation and sheltering measures to protect the public significantly reduced potential radiation exposures by “a factor of 10”.[27]
At least six workers have exceeded lifetime legal limits for radiation and more than 175 (0.7%) have received significant radiation doses. Workers involved in mitigating the effects of the accident do face minimally higher risks for some cancers.[28] According to Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare, the government awarded workers’ compensation to a man who developed leukemia while working on the Fukushima cleanup in 2015 and has acknowledged that three other Fukushima workers developed leukemia and thyroid cancer after working on the plant cleanup.[29] As of 2020, the total number of cancer and leukemia instances has risen to six cases according to the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO).[5] In 2018 one worker died from lung cancer as a result from radiation exposure.[30][31] After hearing opinions from a panel of radiologists and other experts, the ministry ruled that the man's family should be paid compensation.[32]
The Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami killed over 15,000 people from effects unrelated to destruction of the reactors at Fukushima.
- ^ Negishi, Mayumi (12 April 2011). "Japan raises nuclear crisis severity to highest level". Reuters.
- ^ "Fukushima accident upgraded to severity level 7". Spectrum. IEEE. 12 April 2011.
- ^ "Responses and Actions Taken by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare of Japan on Radiation Protection at Works Relating to the Accident at TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant 6th Edition (Fiscal Year of 2018)" (PDF). Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare: 13. 31 January 2019. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 January 2022.
- ^ Robin.Harding (11 March 2018). "Fukushima nuclear disaster: did the evacuation raise the death toll?". Financial Times. Retrieved 2 February 2019.
- ^ a b "Compensation claims from Fukushima plant work top 260 since 2011". The Japan Times. 31 October 2020. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
IAEAtsunami1was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ McCurry, Justin (24 March 2011). "Japan nuclear plant workers in hospital after radiation exposure". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 December 2013.
- ^ "Radiation-exposed workers to be treated at Chiba hospital". Kyodo News. 25 March 2011. Archived from the original on 17 February 2013. Retrieved 17 April 2011.
- ^ "Japan's unfolding disaster 'bigger than Chernobyl'". The New Zealand Herald. 2 April 2011.
- ^ "Explainer: What went wrong in Japan's nuclear reactors". IEEE Spectrum. 4 April 2011.
- ^ "Analysis: A month on, Japan nuclear crisis still scarring" Archived 16 April 2011 at the Wayback Machine International Business Times (Australia). 9 April 2011, retrieved 12 April 2011; excerpt, According to James Acton, Associate of the Nuclear Policy Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, "Fukushima is not the worst nuclear accident ever but it is the most complicated and the most dramatic ... This was a crisis that played out in real time on TV. Chernobyl did not."
- ^ a b Caracappa, Peter F. (28 June 2011), "Fukushima Accident: Radioactive Releases and Potential Dose Consequences" (PDF), Annual Meeting, ANS, archived from the original (PDF) on 27 November 2011, retrieved 13 September 2011
- ^ a b "The health effects of Fukushima". www.world-nuclear-news.org.
- ^ Brumfiel, Geoffrey (23 May 2012). "World Health Organization weighs in on Fukushima". Nature. Retrieved 20 March 2013.
- Brumfiel, Geoff (January 2013). "Fukushima: Fallout of fear". Nature. 493 (7432): 290–293. Bibcode:2013Natur.493..290B. doi:10.1038/493290a. PMID 23325191.
- ^ "Trauma, Not Radiation, Is Key Concern in Japan". NPR. 9 March 2012. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
- ^ David Watson (12 August 2020). "For The First Time The World Learns Truth About The Risk of Nuclear". Medium. Retrieved 12 August 2020.
- ^ Philip Thomas (20 November 2017). "Evacuating A Nuclear Disaster Area Is Usually A Waste of Time And Money Says Study". The Conversation. Retrieved 20 November 2017.
- ^ a b Seiji Yasumura (2014). "Evacuation Effect on Excess Mortality Among Institutionalized Elderly After the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident". Fukushima J. Med. Sci. 60.
- ^ a b A. Hasegawa (2015). "Health effects of radiation and other health problems in the aftermath of nuclear accidents, with an emphasis on Fukushima" (PDF). The Lancet. 386 (9992): 479–488. doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(15)61106-0. PMID 26251393. S2CID 19289052.
- ^ "Fukushima evacuation split 50% of families: survey". The Japan Times. 4 May 2014.
- ^ "Damage Caused by Earthquake and Tsunami". Fukushima Revitalization Station, Fukushima Prefecture Government. August 2017.
- ^ A. Hasegawa (January 2016). "Emergency Responses and Health Consequences after the Fukushima Accident; Evacuation and Relocation". Clinical Oncology. 28 (4): 237–244. doi:10.1016/j.clon.2016.01.002. PMID 26876459.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:2was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Smith, Alexander (10 September 2013). "Fukushima evacuation has killed more than earthquake and tsunami, survey says". NBC News.
- ^ "東京新聞:原発関連死1368人に 本紙集計 1年で136人増". Tokyo Shimbun. 6 March 2016. Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 29 October 2017.
- ^ "Fukushima Accident". World Nuclear Association.
- ^ "No Immediate Health Risks from Fukushima Nuclear Accident Says UN Expert Science Panel". unis.unvienna.org. 31 May 2013. UNIS/INF/475.
- ^ Dennis Normile (28 February 2013). "WHO Sees Minimal Cancer Risks From Fukushima Accident". Science Insider. Archived from the original on 17 March 2013. Retrieved 4 April 2013.
- ^ Rich, Mokoto (5 September 2018). "In a First, Japan Says Fukushima Radiation Caused Worker's Cancer Death". The New York Times. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
- ^ Kennedy, Merit (5 September 2018). "Japanese Government Acknowledges First Fukushima Radiation Death". NPR. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
- ^ "Japan acknowledges first radiation death among Fukushima workers". Reuters. 5 September 2018. Retrieved 18 March 2021.
- ^ "Fukushima nuclear disaster: Japan confirms first worker death from radiation". BBC News. 5 September 2018.