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Death at Fukushima said not from radiation

The crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant is seen in Okumamachi, Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan in this March 20, 2011 aerial photo taken by a small unmanned drone and released by AIR PHOTO SERVICE. From top to bottom, Unit 1 through Unit 4. UPI/Air Photo Service Co. Ltd.
The crippled Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant is seen in Okumamachi, Fukushima prefecture, northern Japan in this March 20, 2011 aerial photo taken by a small unmanned drone and released by AIR PHOTO SERVICE. From top to bottom, Unit 1 through Unit 4. UPI/Air Photo Service Co. Ltd. | License Photo

FUKUSHIMA, Japan, Oct. 7 (UPI) -- The death of a worker at Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant was unlikely to have been caused by radiation, officials said.

The 50-year-old man, whose name has been withheld, was rushed to a hospital after becoming ill at a morning meeting Wednesday at the plant damaged in the tsunami that followed the March 11 earthquake, Britain's The Guardian newspaper reported.

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Plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Co. said the man died Thursday morning and the cause of death was being investigated.

Tepco said the victim had been working at the plant for 46 days installing a tank to process contaminated water pumped from damaged reactor buildings.

He had worked 3 hours a day and his radiation exposure was well below the level thought to increase any risk of cancer, Tepco said.

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