First time worker's cancer is linked to Fukushima radioactivity

"Acknowledging a link between leukemia and exposure to radiation from the nuclear accident, the health ministry has awarded workers' compensation to a former worker at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant for the first time.

According to government insurance standards for nuclear industry workers introduced in 1976, the government pays workers' compensation to those who are exposed to 5 millisieverts or higher levels of radiation annually and develop leukemia more than a year after they first engaged in work that could expose them to radiation."

A total of eight workers have applied for compensation. Three have been denied, one withdrew, and three cases are still pending. The Ashahi Shimbun

The now-41-year old worker had been exposed to just about 20 mSv of radiation total over about a-year-and-a-half, the amount of radioactivity allowed for members of the public, including children and pregnant women, in just one year for resettlement of contaminated areas in Japan.

While some contend that this leukemia case is on the early side of the latency period for leukemias, the CDC says the latency for leukemia can be as short as 0.4 years.