July 25, 2011
Fukushima Prefecture on July 24 finalized the nation’s largest life-time health study to check for thyroid-gland cancer among 360,000 young people living near the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
Under the program, residents under 19 as of April 1 will undergo ultrasonic exams from October 2011 to March 2014 to check for symptoms of thyroid-gland cancer.
They will then take the same exam every two years.
For residents over 19, the exams will be performed every five years free of charge.
According to investigations, a large number of children developed thyroid-gland cancer after the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster, showing that young people are more vulnerable to radiation contamination.
Many of the children developed symptoms four to five years after the accident.
Continue reading at Fukushima to provide life-time cancer checks
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