A Simple Survey of the Preparation Situation for Resident's Evacuation in Japanese Prefectures After the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant Accident

Japanese radiological technologists' perceptions and interest in disaster medicine and radiation emergency medicine

Since the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident in Japan, there has been a growing demand for radiological technologists to play active roles in radiation emergency medicine. This study administered a questionnaire survey to determine radiological technologists' experience, interest, and confidence in disaster medicine and radiation emergency medicine as well as their educational needs, particularly regarding radiation emergency medicine. Findings showed that less than 10% of radiological technologists working at nuclear emergency core hospitals and nuclear emergency medical cooperative institutions for nuclear disaster medical care had studied disaster medicine, regardless of their affiliation, age, or years of service, and that they lacked educational experience. However, they showed interest in general disasters and emergency medicine, and all aspects necessary for the treatment of injured and sick patients in nuclear disasters, such as dosimetry and radiation control, and were willing to learn through online formats, such as e-learning, to expand their learning opportunities. This research seeks to promote a positive perception of disaster and radiation emergency medical education among radiological technologists.

Resilient design in nuclear energy: Critical lessons from a cross-disciplinary analysis of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear accident

This paper presents a multidisciplinary analysis of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. Along with the latest observations and simulation studies, we synthesize the time-series and event progressions during the accident across multiple disciplines, including in-plant physics and engineering systems, operators' actions, emergency responses, meteorology, radionuclide release and transport, land contamination, and health impacts. We identify three key factors that exacerbated the consequences of the accident: (1) the failure of Unit 2 containment venting, (2) the insufficient integration of radiation measurements and meteorology data in the evacuation strategy, and (3) the limited risk assessment and emergency preparedness. We conclude with new research and development directions to improve the resilience of nuclear energy systems and communities, including (1) meteorology-informed proactive venting, (2) machine learning-enabled adaptive evacuation zones, and (3) comprehensive risk-informed emergency planning while leveraging the experience from responses to other disasters.

Implications of the evacuation of hospitalized patients in a nuclear emergency

In the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station following the Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami, more than 50 hospital patients died during or soon after evacuation, primarily owing to the interruption of necessary medical care. To prevent the occurrence of such losses in the future, the focus of evacuation decisions should be on the health status of individual patients and not on currently evaluated non-human aspects such as the geophysical conditions and the status of the accident facility. This brief research report provides a conceptual basis considering the principle of justification for making more appropriate decisions on the evacuation of hospitalized patients by balancing radiological risks and evacuation-induced health risks. This research report is expected to foster discussions among stakeholders on how to protect vulnerable people more appropriately in nuclear emergencies.

Awareness of Medical Radiologic Technologists of Ionizing Radiation and Radiation Protection

Japanese people experienced the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings, the Japan Nuclear Fuel Conversion Co. criticality accident, it was found that many human resources are needed to respond to residents' concerns about disaster exposure in the event of a radiation disaster. Medical radiologic technologists learn about radiation from the time of their training, and are engaged in routine radiographic work, examination explanations, medical exposure counseling, and radiation protection of staff. By learning about nuclear disasters and counseling, we believe they can address residents' concerns. In order to identify items needed for training, we examined the perceptions of medical radiologic technologists in the case of different specialties, modalities and radiation doses. In 2016, 5 years after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident, we conducted a survey of 57 medical radiologic technologists at two medical facilities with different specialties and work contents to investigate their attitudes toward radiation. 42 participants answered questions regarding sex, age group, presence of children, health effects of radiation exposure, radiation control, generation of X rays by diagnostic X ray equipment, and radiation related units. In a comparison of 38 items other than demographic data, 14 showed no significant differences and 24 showed significant differences. This study found that perceptions of radiation were different among radiology technologists at facilities with different specialties. The survey suggested the possibility of identifying needed training items and providing effective training.

Assessment of an Emergency Medicine System for Radiation Accidents in Korea: A State Survey of the Workers Involved the Medical Response to Radiation Accidents

Radiation emergency medicine systems are operated around the world to provide special care for the injured that require immediate medical attention in accidents. The objective of this survey was to evaluate people’s perception of those who design the emergency medical plan for radiation accidents and those who supervise it in Korea. A questionnaire survey was conducted on the people involved in a regulatory system for medical response in a radiation emergency. Of 150 survey recipients, 133 (88.7%) completed the survey, including 92 workers and 41 inspectors. The respondents expressed the view that the national emergency medical plan is prepared above the average level using a Likert-style scale of 1 to 5 (mean = 3.55, SD = 0.74). Interestingly, using the Mann–Whitney U test, it could be shown that inspectors evaluated the emergency medical system for radiation accidents more strictly in all of the questions than the licensee workers, especially on radiation medical emergency preparedness (p = 0.004) and the governmental regulatory policy for radiation safety (p = 0.007). For a more efficient system of radiation emergency medicine, licensee workers prioritized the workforce, whereas inspectors favored laws and regulations for safety. The survey results show different perspectives between inspectors and licensee workers, which stem from the actual properties of each occupational role in the regulatory system for radiation medical emergency. These data could be utilized for communication and interaction with relevant people to improve the medical response preparedness against radiation accidents.