Press Conference by the Chief Cabinet Secretary (Excerpt)

Q&As

(Abridged)

REPORTER: It is being reported that when there were examinations into the amount of internal radiation exposure received by the thyroid glands of children in Fukushima Prefecture directly after TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station accident, additional examinations requested by the Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC) to the Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters were not carried out. Please tell us if this is true, and if it is, please explain why the examinations were not carried out.

CHIEF CABINET SECRETARY FUJIMURA: First, I believe that this was last year around March or April. The Nuclear Emergency Response Headquarters carried out simplified measurement of the thyroid glands of 1,080 children in Iwaki City, Iitate Village and Kawamata Town from March 24 to March 30 and found screening values to be lower than those announced by the NSC. Based on these results, the NSC was consulted about what sort of response should be made, and in a letter from the NSC dated April 3, it was said that there was no need for immediate additional examinations, but that it would be desirable to make a judgment on the undertaking of final additional examinations by watching the situation at TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station moving forward. Either way, the most important thing is to protect the health of the children of Fukushima, and so when Fukushima Prefecture carries out examinations of the health of all residents in Fukushima, an ultrasound of the thyroid gland is to be periodically undertaken for all children. So my answer at this moment in time is that we want to watch those results, and that more than anything it is necessary to continue to ensure the health of children.

(Abridged)