Up to 1,000 bodies left untouched due to radiation in Japan

[News_Editor]

Up to 1,000 bodies left untouched due to radiation in Japan

2011-03-31 22:41:27 GMT+7 (ICT)

TOKYO, JAPAN (BNO NEWS) -- Japanese authorities on Thursday informed that as many as 1,000 bodies have been left untouched after being exposed to radiation near the troubled Fukushima nuclear plant, the Kyodo news agency reported.

The bodies from the victims of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan were exposed to high levels of radiation and fear have prevented authorities from collecting them.

The fears were increased after a body with elevated levels of radiation was found in Okuma, about 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station last Sunday.

Police officers, doctors and rescuers are in fear of being exposed to radiation in retrieving the bodies or storing them at morgues. Authorities are analyzing a safer method to collect the victims, Kyodo reported.

Initially it was planned to inspect the bodies before moving them but this was ruled out due to radiation exposure fears. Cremating the victims is not an option as plumes containing radioactive materials could be spread and the soil contaminated.

"Measures that can be taken vary depending on the level of radiation, so there need to be professionals who can control radiation,'' an expert on treating people exposed to radiation told Kyodo. ''One option is to take decontamination vehicles there and decontaminate the bodies one by one."

Local residents were evacuated from the surrounding areas to the Fukushima power plant which is leaking radioactive materials as its cooling systems for its reactors and nuclear spent-fuel pools were damaged by the disaster.

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