(September 2, 1994) Japanese Ministry of Labor decided to compensate for the death of Shimahashi Nobuyuki, who had died of chronic bone marrow leukemia in October 1991 at the age of 29.
(417.4126) WISE Amsterdam - He died after 9 years of occupational exposure to radiation at Hamaoka Nuclear Power Station operated by the Chubu Electric Power Company.
The decision was made public on July 27. In May 1993, Shimahashi's parents lodged an application for recognition that their son's death was caused by an occupational disease. A coalition of anti-nuke action groups has been supporting the application. Shimahashi's cumulative dose through his sub-contract work at the Hamaoka NPP was 50.63mSv.
The Ministry also recognised that another NPP worker (anonymous, 38 years old male) would be compensated for occupational radiation hazards under the workers' accidents compensation scheme. He had worked inside Genkai, Oh'i and Takahama Nuclear Power Plants.
These are the second and third cases in which the Japanese administration officially recognized that the nuclear power plant workers' disease was caused by occupational exposure to radiation. The latter anonymous man is actually the first NPP worker in Japan who is to receive official compensation for the radiation exposure, alive.
Source: Magpie Country Nukes Headliner No.21, August 1994
Contact: Dr. Yuko Fujita, Dept. of Physics, Keio University, Hiyoshi 4-1- 1, Kohoku-ku, Yokohama 233, Japan. Fax: + 8145-562-2279