Health Management at the Site of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant

The earthquake measuring magnitude 9.0 occurred on 11 March 2011 in the northeast part of Japan in which the Fukushima nuclear power plant was located. The height of tsunami which attacked the plant was higher than 14m and caused serious damages to the plant, resulting in release of radioactives assessed as INES Level 7. This accident has not been settled yet and the workers have faced radioactives and a lot of difficulties. Their bravery and morality are high surprisingly, although they had only limited resources at the early stage. The government relaxed the upper limit for exposure, allowing 250 millisieverts for emergency workers. There are two independent medical rooms at the site and physicians are on duty round the clock at each room. And more than 30 voluntary physicians who are specialists of radiation emergency or occupational medicine join this action. All workers engaged in this urgent recovery operations should take periodic medical examinations for a long term and be registered in the data base. Experiences gained in providing health management services of the workers are presented and discussed.