Japanese Fukushima Nuclear Plant Worker Exposed to Radioactive Material... Also Ingested Internally

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] It has been reported that a worker exposed to radiation internally while working at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Japan, where an explosion accident occurred following the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011.

According to local Japanese media such as Kyodo News on the 7th, a man in his 60s, employed by a Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) subcontractor, was internally exposed to radiation while organizing tools and leaving the large machinery entrance of Reactor No. 2 building at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant the previous afternoon. It was confirmed that radioactive material was attached inside his nostrils and had entered his body. TEPCO is currently investigating the circumstances of the exposure.

This is the first internal radiation exposure incident during work at the Fukushima nuclear plant in about 2 years and 5 months since September 2017. The worker is tentatively estimated to have been exposed to a maximum of 1.18 millisieverts (mSv) over the next 50 years. The annual radiation exposure limit for adults announced by the Japanese government is 1 mSv.

According to the Japanese Ministry of the Environment, internal exposure refers to the phenomenon where radioactive materials enter the body through ingestion such as meals, inhalation of radioactive materials in the air during breathing, or absorption through wounds, causing the body to be irradiated. In such cases, the radioactive materials inside the body are either expelled through excretion or the body continues to be affected by the radioactive materials until their radioactivity weakens over time.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.