<P> In April 2011, the United States Department of Energy published projections of the radiation risks over the next year for people living in the neighborhood of the plant . Potential exposure could exceed 20 mSv / year (2 rems / year) in some areas up to 50 kilometers from the plant . That is the level at which relocation would be considered in the USA, and it is a level that could cause roughly one extra cancer case in 500 young adults . Natural radiation levels are higher in some part of the world than the projected level mentioned above, and about 4 people out of 10 can be expected to develop cancer without exposure to radiation . Further, the radiation exposure resulting from the accident for most people living in Fukushima is so small compared to background radiation that it may be impossible to find statistically significant evidence of increases in cancer . </P> <P> As of September 2011, six workers at the Fukushima Daiichi site have exceeded lifetime legal limits for radiation and more than 300 have received significant radiation doses . </P> <P> Workers on - site now wear full - body radiation protection gear, including masks and helmets covering their entire heads, but it means they have another enemy: heat . As of 19 July 2011, 33 cases of heat stroke had been recorded . In these harsh working conditions, two workers in their 60s have died from heart failure . </P> <P> As of September 2012, there were no deaths or serious injuries due to direct radiation exposures . Cancer deaths due to accumulated radiation exposures cannot be ruled out, and according to one expert, might be in the order of 100 cases . A May 2012 United Nations committee report stated that none of the six Fukushima workers who had died since the tsunami had died from radiation exposure . </P>

The nuclear accident at fukushima was the direct result of operator failure