Radioactive urine

摘要

Fukushima's legacy is still unfolding. Radioactive elements have been found in the urine of 15 people in Iitate and Kawamata, 35 to 40 kilometres away from the stricken Japanese nuclear plant. These are the first results from a planned 30-year project to monitor the 2 million residents of Fukushima prefecture for signs of radiation exposure. Nanao Kamada of Hiroshima University and colleagues found iodine-131 at doses of up to 3.2 millisieverts in six people in the first round of tests in early May, but none in late May, and radioactive caesium in all 15 in both rounds. This brings the dose in the two months following the disaster to between 4.9 and 14.2 millisieverts. The "safe" annual dose is 20 millisieverts.