A Study on Estimation of Radiation Exposure Dose During Dismantling of RCS Piping in Decommissioning Nuclear Power Plant

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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Public Health Concerns on Radiation Exposure After the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident

Journal of Disaster Research ◽

10.20965/jdr.2015.p0716 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 10 (sp) ◽

pp. 716-727 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Reiko Kanda ◽

◽

Satsuki Tsuji ◽

Hidenori Yonehara ◽

Masami Torikoshi ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Power Plant ◽

Nuclear Power Plant ◽

Radiation Exposure ◽

Media Coverage ◽

Nuclear Power ◽

Daily Life ◽

Internal Exposure ◽

Dose Measurement ◽

Nuclear Power Plant Accident ◽

Media Reports

This study analyzes data from telephone consultations made with a research institution during approximately one year following the March 11, 2011, Fukushima, Japan, Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. Data was correlated with newspaper and online media coverage. During the analysis, many calls for consultation concerned aspects of daily life such as food, clothing, and housing and to radiation exposure during the accident. As the year of study went on, the proportion of consultation on daily life changed to more technical topics, such as dose measurement, scientific knowledge, natural radiation, and Russia’s Chernobyl accident. The topic of “children” raised the greatest number of consultations over the entire period; 20–40% of callers inquiring about soil, dose measurement and internal exposure asked also about children. Media reports on the topics consulted on were few except for those on dose measurement. The proportion of consultations on children and dose measurement may have been raised due to media reports circulating at about the same time. We concluded that it is important in postaccident risk communication that information related to daily living – especially protective measures that could be taken – and to effects on children be provided efficiently and at an appropriate timing.

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RADIATION EXPOSURE OF THE POPULATION FROM 222Rn AND OTHER NATURAL RADIONUCLIDES AROUND MOCHOVCE NUCLEAR POWER PLANT, SLOVAKIA

Radiation Protection Dosimetry ◽

10.1093/rpd/ncx149 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 177 (1-2) ◽

pp. 207-212

Author(s):

Martin Bulko ◽

Karol Holý ◽

Žofia Pohronská ◽

Monika Műllerová ◽

Radoslav Böhm ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Power Plant ◽

Nuclear Power Plant ◽

Radiation Exposure ◽

Nuclear Power ◽

Natural Radionuclides

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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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