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Fukushima: a dead man too radioactive to be buried.

Published 30 March 2011

Japanese source, translation by ACDN.

The police in Japan have confirmed the report that they decided not to collect the body of a man found dead in Okuma, in Fukushima prefecture, inside the 10km zone around the Fukushima no.1 plant. It was judged impossible to transport him, on account of the high level of radioactivity in his body.

Considering it possible that within the zone there might be other corpses that cannot be taken care of, the police authorities have said they are “examining appropriate measures.”

The police say that they found the body on the morning of March 27 in an open-air building-site 5 or 6 km from the plant, after being told about it by security personnel. Measurements determined that a layer of radioactivity of at least 100 000 CPM (counts per minute) would have to be removed from the entire corpse. They decided not to collect the body because, in addition to the radioactive hazard to those transporting it, there was a risk that it would contaminate the place it was taken to.

The body was enclosed in a bag and stored provisionally in a nearby building.