Academic Responses to Fukushima Disaster (original) (raw)
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Post-Fukushima radiation education for public health nursing students: a case study
International Nursing Review, 2016
Background: The recent Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant accident was one of more than 200 serious nuclear/ radiation incidents (accidents and disasters) that occurred worldwide since 1945. The current Fukushima disaster is in the recovery phase with the decreasing levels of radiation in the environment. However, fears and stigma related to the perceived risk of radiation exposure persist among the general population. Introduction: To improve on students' preparedness for social and public health challenges after a radiation incidence, radiation education was provided for undergraduate public health nursing students. Aim: This case study reports the development and implementation of the first class of radiation education in public health nursing, as well as students' reflections on their class experience. Methods: We included a 90-min radiation class in an undergraduate public health nursing course in Tokyo, Japan. Lectures/discussion on technical and environmental aspects provided the minimally essential content for basic radiation knowledge. After class, all the 65 students were invited to freely write their reflections on the class. With their consent, 61 students' anonymous written accounts were qualitatively analysed. Results: Five themes emerged: awareness of ignorance about radiation, problems produced by the mass media, becoming knowledgeable about radiation, public health nurses' role, and trustful and enjoyable lecture. Discussion: The class inspired students to consider social, psychological and relational aspects of knowing and not knowing about radiation and their future professional role. Conclusion and implications for nursing: Once radiation is taught at school, nursing students will emerge as professionals with the belief that radiation is within their professional purview. Education is key to disaster prevention, preparation, response and recovery. Given the ubiquitous nature of health challenges after a radiation incident, radiation education is indispensable for nursing students worldwide.
Medical Preparedness in Radiation Accidents: a Matter of Logistics and Communication not Treatment!
The currently reactor wreckage in Fukushima raised the following important questions: Is our knowledge of the possible dangers of ionizing radiation sufficient to warrant special action? What is the role of the medical community in technical radiation accidents from Windscale to Fukushima? What is the role of the medical community in terrorist radiation attacks? Are we prepared for those challenges? How can medical services communicate information in the media framework? What have we learned recently? And, what should be improved? In this review of the current literature on ionizing radiation, we try to answer these questions. Our conclusion is that medical services have to improve their communication skills and convince the public that the dangers of ionizing radiation can be quantitated within certain limits to support a qualified discussion about its risks and benefits.
2010
Analysis of performed rescue operations during previous nuclear and radiation accidents highlights several problems impacting the quality of emergency response: unsatisfactory preparation of the population and the medical profession for action in extreme circumstances; presence, along with pure radiation damage, of varied spectrum of psychological side effects. According to the authors, in order to reduce the health risk for the affected people, preliminary preparation and training is required. This publication presents a training concept, together with related levels and means of realization.
Journal of Radiation Research, 2015
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.
2009
Analysis of performed rescue operations during previous nuclear and radiation accidents highlights several problems impacting the quality of emergency response: unsatisfactory preparation of the population and the medical profession for action in extreme circumstances; presence, along with pure radiation damage, of varied spectrum of psychological side effects. According to the authors, in order to reduce the health risk for the affected people, preliminary preparation and training is required. This publication presents a training concept, together with related levels and means of realization.
Journal of radiation research, 2014
The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) 1 was severely damaged from the chain reaction of the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami on 11 March 2011, and the consequent meltdown and hydrogen gas explosions. This resulted in the worst nuclear accident since the Chernobyl accident of 1986. Just as in the case of Chernobyl, emergency workers were recruited to conduct a wide range of tasks, including disaster response, rescuing activities, NPP containment, and radiation decontamination. This paper describes the types and efficacy of the various occupational health interventions introduced to the Fukushima NPP radiation workers. Such interventions were implemented in order to prevent unnecessary radiation overexposure and associated adverse health effects and work injuries. Less than 1% of all emergency workers were exposed to external radiation of >100 mSv, and to date no deaths or health adversities from radiation have been reported for those workers. Several occupational ...
Communicating With Residents About Risks Following the Fukushima Nuclear Accident
Asia-Pacific journal of public health, 2017
The Fukushima nuclear accident in March 2011 posed major threats to public health. In response, medical professionals have tried to communicate the risks to residents. To investigate forms of risk communication and to share lessons learned, we reviewed medical professionals' activities in Fukushima Prefecture from the prefectural level to the individual level: public communication through Fukushima Health Management Surveys, a Yorozu ("general") health consultation project, communications of radiological conditions and health promotion in Iitate and Kawauchi villages, dialogues based on whole-body counter, and science communications through online media. The activities generally started with radiation risks, mainly through group-based discussions, but gradually shifted to face-to-face communications to address comprehensive health risks to individuals and well-being. The activities were intended to support residents' decisions and to promote public health in a part...
Journal of radiological protection : official journal of the Society for Radiological Protection, 2015
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 t...
Public Health Nursing, 2020
ObjectiveThis study identified the radiological content required for PHNs and public health nursing students based on PHNs’ experiences caring for people affected by the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident.DesignWe used qualitative research, interviews, and content analysis.SampleParticipants were eight PHNs employed by local governments in Fukushima and neighboring prefectures.ResultsSix content themes regarding the nuclear disaster were identified: (a) basic knowledge about radiation, (b) public health nursing activities in emergency exposure situations, (c) management in emergency exposure situations, (d) consultation to support residents affected by the nuclear disaster, (e) activities in the existing exposure situations, and (f) disaster preparedness in the planned exposure situations. Necessary content shifted depending on the phase of the nuclear disaster recovery.ConclusionsThe use of the experiences of PHNs after the nuclear power plant accident to inform PH...
Teaching about Radiation after Fukushima
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists
Government-sponsored centers that aim to teach the Japanese public about radiation are minimizing the risk of residual radioactivity after the Fukushima nuclear disaster. https://thebulletin.org/2019/02/teaching-about-radiation-after-fukushima/