Risk Perception of Health Risks Associated with Radiation Exposure among Residents of Okuma, Fukushima Prefecture

Ten years have passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake and the subsequent Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident on 11 March 2011. Okuma is a town hosting the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant. The evacuation order for Okuma was partially lifted in April 2019. To clarify factors associated with risk perceptions of radiation among the residents of Okuma, we conducted a questionnaire survey in January 2021. Our results revealed that resident anxieties regarding the health effects of radiation exposure from living in Okuma were independently associated with positive PCL-Specific score, recognition of the consultation services with radiation experts in the municipal government of Okuma, and planned request for consultation service regarding radiation exposure by radiation experts, along with being female and living with a child. It is important for radiation experts to promote periodic communication of risks with individuals on a small scale to provide accurate information about the health effects of radiation and to provide maternal and child healthcare services and support regarding child-rearing and radiation exposure, to reduce concerns about radiation exposure and facilitate healthy living and wellbeing in Okuma.

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

Journal of Disaster Research ◽

10.20965/jdr.2015.p0755 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 10 (sp) ◽

pp. 755-769 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

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.

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Risk perceptions regarding radiation exposure among Japanese schoolteachers living around the Sendai Nuclear Power Plant after the Fukushima accident

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0212917 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 14 (3) ◽

pp. e0212917 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Hiroko Hori ◽

Makiko Orita ◽

Yasuyuki Taira ◽

Takashi Kudo ◽

Noboru Takamura

Keyword(s):

Power Plant ◽

Nuclear Power Plant ◽

Radiation Exposure ◽

Risk Perceptions ◽

Nuclear Power ◽

Fukushima Accident

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Bipolarization of Risk Perception about the Health Effects of Radiation in Residents after the Accident at Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant

PLoS ONE ◽

10.1371/journal.pone.0129227 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 10 (6) ◽

pp. e0129227 ◽

Cited By ~ 30

Author(s):

Makiko Orita ◽

Naomi Hayashida ◽

Yumi Nakayama ◽

Tetsuko Shinkawa ◽

Hideko Urata ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Risk Perception ◽

Power Plant ◽

Nuclear Power Plant ◽

Health Effects ◽

Nuclear Power ◽

Effects Of Radiation

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

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences ◽

10.1073/pnas.1315684111 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 111 (10) ◽

pp. E914-E923 ◽

Cited By ~ 71

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.

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Measurement of the Ambient Radioactivity and Estimation of Human Radiation Exposure Dose in Tokyo with Regard to the Radioactive Substance Leakage Due to the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident

RADIOISOTOPES ◽

10.3769/radioisotopes.60.467 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 60 (11) ◽

pp. 467-472 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Yoshiyasu NAGAKAWA ◽

Takashi SUZUKI ◽

Yasuhito KINJO ◽

Noriyuki MIYAZAKI ◽

Masayuki SEKIGUCHI ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Power Plant ◽

Nuclear Power Plant ◽

Radiation Exposure ◽

Nuclear Power ◽

Exposure Dose ◽

Radioactive Substance ◽

Nuclear Power Plant Accident ◽

Fukushima Daiichi ◽

Radiation Exposure Dose

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The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident and school bullying of affected children and adolescents: the need for continuous radiation education

Journal of Radiation Research ◽

10.1093/jrr/rry025 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 59 (3) ◽

pp. 381-384 ◽

Cited By ~ 13

Author(s):

Toyoaki Sawano ◽

Yoshitaka Nishikawa ◽

Akihiko Ozaki ◽

Claire Leppold ◽

Masaharu Tsubokura

Keyword(s):

Power Plant ◽

Nuclear Power Plant ◽

Nuclear Power ◽

Radiation Effects ◽

School Bullying ◽

Nuclear Power Plant Accident ◽

Fukushima Daiichi ◽

Effects Of Radiation ◽

Radiation Education

Abstract The health threats of radiation-release incidents are diverse and long term. In addition to direct radiation effects, it is imperative to manage the indirect effects of radiation such as stigma, prejudice and broader mental health impacts. Six years after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident of March 2011, bullying caused by stigma and prejudice toward evacuees, including children, has become a social problem in Japan. This phenomenon may be associated with the fact that knowledge about radiation has still not reached the general public, and to a potential lack of motivation among Japanese citizens to learn about radiation and bullying. Continuous and sustained education regarding radiation is warranted in order to enhance the general knowledge level about the effects of radiation in Japan after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, and this education will become an important reference for education after future nuclear disasters.

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