Ex-Futaba residents are testing higher than all other municipalities with internal radiation exposure

Abandoned hospital in Futaba

From the Mainichi Daily:

2 boys in Fukushima Pref. internally exposed to radiation

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Two boys in Fukushima Prefecture were found to have been internally exposed to the highest levels of radiation detected during checks conducted on nearly 4,500 local residents in the wake of the nuclear crisis at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant in the northeastern prefecture, the prefectural government said Thursday.

The level of exposure is estimated to be equivalent to 3 millisieverts during their lifetime, which would not have harmful effects on their health, according to government officials. The local government has not disclosed the boys' exact ages, saying only that they are between 4 and 7 years old.

The boys, who are from the town of Futaba, which partly hosts the plant that was severely damaged by explosions after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami, showed the highest levels of internal exposure among 4,463 residents of 13 high-risk municipalities tested between June 27 and Sept. 30, the officials said.

Among others tested, eight people measured 2 millisieverts, six 1 millisievert and the remaining 4,447 below 1 millisievert, they said.

They were tested using whole body counters either at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences in Chiba city or the Japan Atomic Energy Agency in Tokaimura, Ibaraki Prefecture. Estimates for adults were calculated to measure accumulated radiation exposure in the coming 50 years, and for children until they reach the age of 70.