Seven years post-Fukushima: overcoming the resident-specialist gap.

To the editor:

Seven years have passed since the accident at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station (FDNPS). Although almost 11 000 residents were evacuated from two cities, seven towns, and three villages, ten of these have already totally or partially lifted their evacuation orders after exhaustive decontamination efforts and the re-establishment of infrastructure. Many residents still hesitate to return to their hometowns for various reasons, however, including employment mismatch for themselves, education for their children, and, particularly, anxiety regarding the health effects of radiation exposure.

Although many surveys have shown that the exposure doses of residents are very limited due to the prompt evacuation and food regulation policy [1], there is a gap between residents’ risk perception and their actual exposure doses. In 2014, therefore, we conducted a survey among residents in the village of Kawauchi (located within 30 km of the FDNPS), where the first evacuation order was lifted in March 2012 [2, 3]. Our aim was to clarify the factors associated with residents’ risk perception of radiation exposure and consequent health effects, and we showed a marked bipolarization of the risk perception after the accident that could have a major impact on social well-being. In 2017, we followed up the risk perception study of residents of Kawauchi and found that the percentage of residents who considered that adverse health effects would occur from 1 mSv per year of radiation exposure [the protection level for the public recommended by the International Commission of Radiological Protection (ICRP) was 37.5% (38.4% in 2014)]. Also, the percentage of residents who stated that adverse effects would occur via their annual intake of mushrooms, including 100 Bq/kg of radiocesium (the current standard value of food regulation in Japan), was 59.0% (57.6% in 2014) (Fig. 1). These results suggest that residents do not fully understand the difference between radiation protection policy, which is as low as reasonably achievable (ALARA), and the actual health effects of radiation based on the results of epidemiological studies. Significantly, this gap has not changed, even 7 years after the accident.

Fig. 1.

(a) The percentage of residents who responded that adverse health effects would occur from 1 mSv per year of radiation exposure in 2014 and 2017; (b) the percentage of residents who answered that adverse effects would occur via their annual intake of mushrooms, including 100 Bq/kg of radiocesium, in 2014 and 2017.

Neither specialists nor the Japanese Government have fully explained the radiation protection policy, and this has caused the bipolarization of risk perception among residents. For the further recovery of Fukushima in the existing exposure situation, specialists in the radiation health sciences must continue their efforts to communicate with the residents in order to narrow the gap between them.