What have we learned from a questionnaire survey of citizens and doctors both inside and outside Fukushima?: survey comparison between 2011 and 2013.

The disaster at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) remains unresolved because the estimated time to decommission a nuclear reactor appears to be approximately 40 years. The number of workers exposed to radiation doses ranging from 1 to 100 mSv continues to increase. To understand the accident progression at Fukushima and to anticipate what we should do in the future for occupational and environmental health, we performed a survey of citizens and doctors who lived inside and outside Fukushima in 2011 and 2013. In a comparison of these 2 years, the citizens inside Fukushima continue to suffer anxiety, although those living outside Fukushima tended to feel less anxious. Medical students who had recently studied radiation biology showed much less ongoing anxiety compared with other groups, suggesting that learning about the effects of radiation is essential to understanding one's own circumstances objectively and correctly. The lack of trust in the government and in the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) in 2013 remains high in all groups. Therefore, long-term forthright explanations from the government, TEPCO, and radiation experts are indispensable not only to establish trust with people but also to alleviate psychological stress.