#Fukushima I Nuke Plant: Hundreds of Dead Bodies within 20-Kilometer Evacuation Zone, Says Police

They died in the quake/tsunami, but the bodies cannot be recovered and sent to the morgue because they've been exposed to high radiation after their deaths, and the police fears the secondary radiation exposure from the bodies.

Okinawa Times (in Japanese; 11:28AM JST 3/31/2011) reports:

It was found through the interview with the police on March 31 that the police estimates there are between several hundreds to a thousand bodies of people who died during the earthquake/tsunami within the 20-kilometer radius evacuation zone. On March 27, high radiation was detected from the body found in Okuma-cho in Fukushima Prefecture, 5 kilometers from the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant. The police points out that "These are bodies of people who got exposed to radiation after they died." The police is looking for ways to recover the bodies without exposing the policemen to the secondary radiation. At first, the police was planning to remove the bodies outside the 20-kilometer evacuation zone for autopsy, but the plan now has to be revised.

According to the police, it is not just the policemen who may be exposed to the secondary radiation when they try to recover the bodies; the policemen, doctors, and family members at the morgue may also be exposed.

　福島第１原発事故で、政府が避難指示を出している原発から約２０キロの圏内に、東日本大震災で亡く なった人の遺体が数百〜千体あると推定されることが３１日、警察当局への取材で分かった。２７日には、原発から約５キロの福島県大熊町で見つかった遺体か ら高い放射線量を測定しており、警察関係者は「死亡後に放射性物質を浴びて被ばくした遺体もある」と指摘。警察当局は警察官が二次被ばくせずに遺体を収容 する方法などの検討を始めた。当初は２０キロ圏外に遺体を移して検視することも念頭に置いていたが、見直しを迫られそうだ。

　警察当局によると、高線量の放射線を浴びた遺体を収容する際、作業する部隊の隊員が二次被ばくする可能性がある。収容先となる遺体安置所などでも検視する警察官や医師、訪問する遺族らに被ばくの恐れが生じる。

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