A group of six people filed a damages suit against the operator of the Fukushima nuclear plant on Thursday, seeking compensation over claims that they developed thyroid cancer after radiation exposure due to the 2011 disaster.
The lawsuit was filed with the
An expert panel of the Fukushima prefectural government has said there is no causal relationship between thyroid cancer and exposure to radiation due to the nuclear disaster. But whether there is such a correlation is likely to be the focus of the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs were all diagnosed with thyroid cancer between the ages of 12 and 18.
Two of the six have had one side of their thyroid surgically removed, while the other four had it taken out entirely due to recurrence of malignancy. In some it has metastasized to the lungs or other parts of the body and they have undergone radiotherapy.
One of the plaintiffs, a woman in her 20s living in the
The six are now aged between 17 and 27 and live in
On
Fukushima Prefecture has conducted thyroid examinations on some 380,000 children aged 18 or below at the time of the incident.
By
==Kyodo
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