NUCLEAR FALLOUT

Japan Announces First Death Linked to Fukushima Radiation

A 50-year-old man who measured radiation at meltdown site in 2011 died of lung cancer.

A man involved in cleanup efforts at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant following a meltdown in 2011 has died of cancer caused by radiation. Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare has confirmed the death of the unnamed 50-year-old man, acknowledging the first fatality directly linked to radiation exposure at the site. The man was reportedly in charge of measuring radiation at the site after an earthquake triggered a tsunami and caused a nuclear meltdown in March 2011. He worked there until December 2011. Health authorities say he also worked at several other atomic power stations from 1980 to 2015 and was careful to wear a full-face mask and protective gear. It was not immediately clear when he died, but he was diagnosed with lung cancer in September 2016. The Japanese government has reportedly already paid compensation to four other workers who developed cancer following the disaster.