Public health activities for mitigation of radiation exposures and risk communication challenges after the Fukushima nuclear accident

Herein we summarize the public health actions taken to mitigate exposure of the public to radiation after the Fukushima accident that occurred on 11 March 2011 in order to record valuable lessons learned for disaster preparedness. Evacuations from the radiation-affected areas and control of the dist...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of radiation research 2015-05, Vol.56 (3), p.422-429
Main Authors: Shimura, Tsutomu, Yamaguchi, Ichiro, Terada, Hiroshi, Robert Svendsen, Erik, Kunugita, Naoki
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Background radiation
Civilian evacuation
Communication
Communities
Disaster management
Disaster Planning - organization & administration
Emergency preparedness
Foods
Fukushima Nuclear Accident
Humans
Information Dissemination - methods
Japan
Nuclear accidents
Nuclear energy
Nuclear Power Plants
Phases
Public health
Public Health Administration - methods
Radiation effects
Radiation Exposure - prevention & control
Radiation Injuries - prevention & control
Radiation Monitoring - methods
Radiation Protection - methods
Reviews
Risk communication
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Summary:Herein we summarize the public health actions taken to mitigate exposure of the public to radiation after the Fukushima accident that occurred on 11 March 2011 in order to record valuable lessons learned for disaster preparedness. Evacuations from the radiation-affected areas and control of the distribution of various food products contributed to the reduction of external and internal radiation exposure resulting from the Fukushima incident. However, risk communication is also an important issue during the emergency response effort and subsequent phases of dealiing with a nuclear disaster. To assist with their healing process, sound, reliable scientific information should continue to be disseminated to the radiation-affected communities via two-way communication. We will describe the essential public health actions following a nuclear disaster for the early, intermediate and late phases that will be useful for radiological preparedness planning in response to other nuclear or radiological disasters.
ISSN:0449-3060
1349-9157
DOI:10.1093/jrr/rrv013