Particle physicist leads drive to study radiation exposure from Fukushima Daiichi

Physics Today ◽  
2013 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Radiation Exposure ◽  
Fukushima Daiichi ◽  
Particle Physicist

Issues Facing Voluntary Evacuees from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident Based on the Collection and Analysis of Cases of Voluntary Evacuation

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (sp) ◽  
pp. 755-769 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kota Tomoyasu ◽  
◽  
Reo Kimura ◽  
Hitomi Mashima ◽  
Ikuno Kazama ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Nuclear Power Plant ◽  
Adverse Effects ◽  
Radiation Exposure ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Nuclear Power Plant Accident ◽  
Living Together ◽  
Fukushima Daiichi ◽  
Effects Of Radiation

Although over three years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake, it is estimated that there remain approximately 135,000 evacuees from the nuclear power plant accident, 81,000 of whom had been living in areas under evacuation orders and 54,000 of whom had been living outside these areas (i.e., voluntary evacuees). However, the lived experience of such voluntary evacuees has been uncertain, as it is not possible to identify them. Consequently, it has not been possible to clarify the anxieties they harbor as they continue their extended existence as evacuees or to determine the issues they face in reconstructing their lives, making it difficult to extend suitable assistance measures. In this study, we worked with NHK to conduct a survey of voluntary evacuees. A list of interviewees compiled by NHK reporters was used to survey voluntary evacuees, who are difficult to identify. By analyzing the collected cases, we examined issues faced by “voluntary evacuees.” The results showed that the majority of the voluntary evacuees in this survey were mothers who had evacuated with their young children (but without their spouses) and who felt that they had had to evacuate due to anxieties about the effects of radiation exposure on their children’s growth. They tended to feel that it was difficult to return to their former areas of residence and that they had no choice except to continue living as evacuees. Furthermore, there were cases in which couples that had previously been living together had separated for reasons of work or place of occupation and had been forced into situations where they were obliged to economically support two households, with adverse effects on their budgets, minds, and bodies. In addition, the nuclear power plant accident made it difficult for them to decide where to base themselves in the future; in some cases, evacuees returned to their pre-disaster areas of residence only to evacuate again. Against the designation “voluntary,” the voluntary evacuees in this survey lived under circumstances in which they felt that they had had no choice but to evacuate; in enduring the difficulties of evacuation, they did not feel they had acted according to their voluntary will. This points to the need to implement effective assistance.

scholarly journals Radiation dose rates now and in the future for residents neighboring restricted areas of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

2014 ◽  
Vol 111 (10) ◽  
pp. E914-E923 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kouji H. Harada ◽  
Tamon Niisoe ◽  
Mie Imanaka ◽  
Tomoyuki Takahashi ◽  
Katsumi Amako ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Nuclear Power Plant ◽  
Radiation Dose ◽  
Radiation Exposure ◽  
Dose Rate ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Solid Cancer ◽  
External Dose ◽  
Dose Rates ◽  
Fukushima Daiichi

Radiation dose rates were evaluated in three areas neighboring a restricted area within a 20- to 50-km radius of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in August–September 2012 and projected to 2022 and 2062. Study participants wore personal dosimeters measuring external dose equivalents, almost entirely from deposited radionuclides (groundshine). External dose rate equivalents owing to the accident averaged 1.03, 2.75, and 1.66 mSv/y in the village of Kawauchi, the Tamano area of Soma, and the Haramachi area of Minamisoma, respectively. Internal dose rates estimated from dietary intake of radiocesium averaged 0.0058, 0.019, and 0.0088 mSv/y in Kawauchi, Tamano, and Haramachi, respectively. Dose rates from inhalation of resuspended radiocesium were lower than 0.001 mSv/y. In 2012, the average annual doses from radiocesium were close to the average background radiation exposure (2 mSv/y) in Japan. Accounting only for the physical decay of radiocesium, mean annual dose rates in 2022 were estimated as 0.31, 0.87, and 0.53 mSv/y in Kawauchi, Tamano, and Haramachi, respectively. The simple and conservative estimates are comparable with variations in the background dose, and unlikely to exceed the ordinary permissible dose rate (1 mSv/y) for the majority of the Fukushima population. Health risk assessment indicates that post-2012 doses will increase lifetime solid cancer, leukemia, and breast cancer incidences by 1.06%, 0.03% and 0.28% respectively, in Tamano. This assessment was derived from short-term observation with uncertainties and did not evaluate the first-year dose and radioiodine exposure. Nevertheless, this estimate provides perspective on the long-term radiation exposure levels in the three regions.

scholarly journals Limited Internal Radiation Exposure Associated with Resettlements to a Radiation-Contaminated Homeland after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Disaster

PLoS ONE ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (12) ◽  
pp. e81909 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masaharu Tsubokura ◽  
Shigeaki Kato ◽  
Masahiko Nihei ◽  
Yu Sakuma ◽  
Tomoyuki Furutani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Radiation Exposure ◽  
Internal Radiation ◽  
Nuclear Disaster ◽  
Fukushima Daiichi

Measurement of Internal Radiation Exposure among Decontamination Workers in Villages near the Crippled Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant

2013 ◽  
Vol 105 (4) ◽  
pp. 379-381 ◽  
Author(s):  
Masaharu Tsubokura ◽  
Masahiko Nihei ◽  
Katsumi Sato ◽  
Shin Masaki ◽  
Yu Sakuma ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Power Plant ◽  
Nuclear Power Plant ◽  
Radiation Exposure ◽  
Nuclear Power ◽  
Internal Radiation ◽  
Fukushima Daiichi

Radiation exposure to Marine biota around the Fukushima Daiichi NPP

2013 ◽  
Vol 186 (5) ◽  
pp. 2949-2956 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dong-Kwon Keum ◽  
Byeong-Ho Kim ◽  
Kwang-Muk Lim ◽  
Yong-Ho Choi
Keyword(s):  
Radiation Exposure ◽  
Marine Biota ◽  
Fukushima Daiichi
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document