You're reading: United Nations: Fukushima workers’ deaths not from radiation

VIENNA — A United Nations agency preparing a report on the health effects of the Fukushima disaster says none of the six former reactor workers who have died since the catastrophe perished due to the effects of radiation.

UNSCEAR says although several workers were irradiated after contamination of their skin, "no clinically observable effects have been reported."

A statement Wednesday quoted UNSCEAR official Wolfgang Weiss as saying the agency is aiming to evaluate irradiation levels for about 2 million people living in Fukushima prefecture at the time of the March 11, 2011 reactor accident.

He said the agency also has information about measurements made on the thyroids of over 1,000 children in the region.

UNSCEAR plans to report to the U.N. General Assembly next year.