Long-term care planned for firefighters who worked at Fukushima plant

Japan Energy Scan

TOKYO — The Fire and Disaster Management Agency aims to conduct physical checkups and mental health care for some 260 firefighters who were mobilized to work at the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant after the March earthquake and tsunami, agency sources said Tuesday.

The firefighters will be screened for illnesses such as leukemia and cataracts. The checkups will also be offered in 2013 and beyond if agreed even after the firefighters have retired.

Those eligible for the checkups are the firefighters who doused the No. 3 reactor of the nuclear power complex with water between March 19 and 25 in an attempt to prevent the spread of large quantitiesof radioactive matter into the air. The firefighters were dispatched from Tokyo, Yokohama, Kawasaki and Osaka.

Between January and March, medical staff will gauge the amounts of radiation inside the firefighters' bodies and test them for leukemia. From 2014, they will be tested for cataracts.

Observers say such long-term care might possibly be provided alsoto Self-Defense Force and police personnel who worked at the Fukushima Daiichi complex after the nuclear crisis was triggered by the March 11 natural disasters.

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