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Internal Exposure Concealed: The True State of the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant Accident

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2025

Yagasaki Katsuma  and
Asia-Pacific Journal
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Yagasaki Katsuma, emeritus professor of Ryukyu University, has been constantly sounding the alarm about the problem of internal exposure related to nuclear weapons testing and nuclear electricity generation. Since the explosion at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant (NPP), he has drawn on his expertise to conduct field research, and to support those who evacuated to Okinawa. We asked him to reflect on the five years since the accident at Fukushima Daiichi, and to lay out the issues that lie ahead.

Type
Research Article
Information
Asia-Pacific Journal , Volume 14 , Issue 10 , May 2016 , e3
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Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
Copyright © The Authors 2016

References

Notes

1 Internal radiation refers to ingestion of radiation through inhaling radioactive dust or consumption of radioactive food and water.

2 Graph comes from Ralph Graeub: The Petkau Effect, Four Walls Eight Windows, New York (1994), p.70. Original data is from: M. Segi and M. Kurihara: Cancer Mortality for Selected Sites in 24 Countries, Japan Cancer Society, Tohoku University, Japan, Nov., 1972.

3 As of February 1 of 2016, the number of evacuees to Okinawa was 707. (This number does not include the evacuees from outside of Fukushima Prefecture. See here.)

4 Japanese translation of the “Chernobyl Laws” is available as part of the full report by the “House of Representatives Delegation for Investigation of Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Accident （衆議院チェルノブイリ原子力発電所事故等調査議員団報告),” December, 2011.

5 Scherb, Fukumoto, Voigt, Kusmierz, フクシマの影響 日本における死産と乳児死亡, which is a translation of an extended version of the article “Folgen von Fukushima, Totgeburten und Säuglingssterblichkeit in Japan” that appeared in the February 6, 2014 edition of Strahlentelex, a German journal specializing on radiological protection. More information about ongoing health effects of Fukushima.

6 “Recommendations to Minimize Radiation Risk by Internal Exposure in Japan,” German Society for Radiation Protection, March 20, 2011.

7 The Chernobyl accident only involved aerial radioactive dispersion, but Fukushima in addition includes water and ocean contamination. A calculation with these into consideration renders such ratios. Watanabe Etsushi, Endo Junko, Yamada Kosaku, Hoshasen hibaku no soten, Ryokufu Shuppan, 2016, p. 170 -

8 Tsuda et al. Epidemiology 2015 Oct. 5: Tsuda T, Tokinobu A, Yamamoto E, et al. Thyroid Cancer Detection by Ultrasound Among Residents Ages 18 Years and Younger in Fukushima, Japan: 2011 to 2014. Epidemiology 2015 Oct 5.

9 Takamatsu Isamu, “Kojosen gan to kenko higai,” UPLAN, November 7, 2014.

10 Matsuzaki Michiyuki, “Report on the Seikatsu Kurabu Thyroid Examination,” July 19, 2015 at Hibiya Convention Hall, Tokyo (Slides 73-101)

11 Yagasaki Katsuma, “Fukushima no kojosen gan no 75% wa hoshasen gen'in.”

12 Nuclear Regulation Authority, “Teiji kōkabutsu no monitoring,” Monitoring information of environmental radioactivity level.