'Tip of the iceberg': For the first time, Fukushima nuclear worker is diagnosed with radiation-linked cancer
The man, who wore protective equipment during more than a year spent at Fukushima, will be awarded compensation to pay for his medical costs and lost income.
A former Fukushima nuclear plant worker has been diagnosed with radiation-linked cancer, with an expert saying the first confirmed case since the 2011 accident could be just the "tip of the iceberg".
A health ministry official said the man, who was in his 30s while working at the plant following the 2011 crisis, has leukaemia. He is now 41, local media reported.
The announcement will likely further inflame widespread public opposition to nuclear power and could frustrate efforts to resettle evacuees in communities around the crippled Fukushima plant that have been deemed safe. It comes less than a week after the controversial restarting of a second reactor in Japan, following the shutdown of all the country's reactors in the wake of the crisis.
"This person went to see a doctor because he was not feeling well. That was when he was diagnosed with leukaemia," the health ministry official said, adding that other possible causes had been ruled out.
The official revealed few details about the man but said he had worked at a destroyed building that housed one of the plant's crippled reactors.
The man, who wore protective equipment during more than a year spent at Fukushima, will be awarded compensation to pay for his medical costs and lost income, the official said, without specifying the amount.