TEPCO underestimated radiation doses workers

A UN panel says Japanese authorities may have underestimated radiation doses workers 

received in the initial phase of the Fukushima nuclear crisis in 2011.

Investigators from the UN Scientific Committee of Atomic Radiation recently filed their report

.They raised doubts about estimates by the Japanese government and plant operator

 Tokyo Electric Power Company.

Panel members analyzed records of 25,000 workers who worked at the plant until last October,

 paying special attention

 to 12 workers with higher doses.The UN committee found the Japanese government and TEPCO 

ignored the effects of radioactive iodine.

Some kinds of iodine have much shorter half-lives than other radioactive 

substances.  Analysts would have had to test workers immediately to discover the true dose.

But the investigators pointed

 to a substantial delay in measuring procedures.  

They concluded that current estimates may be 20 percent lower than 

they should be.The committee urged the government and TEPCO

 to observe workers' conditions over the long term.  

Oct. 13, 2013 - Updated 02:04