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The purpose of establishing nuclear power plants is to meet the growing energy demand. Unfortunately, there have been five major nuclear accidents in history, which have diverse and lasting effects on individuals and society. The well-known health effects are tissue reactions caused by high radiation doses and carcinogenic effects of low radiation doses. In recent years, studies on adult residents, mothers with young children, and clean-up/decontamination workers exposed to high doses of radiation in the areas affected by nuclear power plant accidents show long-term impacts on the mental health of these people. This paper reviews these psychological impacts.
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In March 2011, a nuclear accident happened and released a large amount of radionuclides into the environment in Fukushima, Japan. This review introduced the latest findings on the relationship between childhood thyroid cancer and radiation exposure after the accident in Fukushima. Many reports suggested that there was no accurate correlation between the incidence of childhood thyroid cancer and the local external dose due to the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power, while the relationship between the two varied with method of dose calculation and statistics. Also there was no clear evidence that radiation exposure had a negative impact on children′s thyroid, and the increased incidence of thyroid cancer may be due to over-screening.
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The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident in Japan resulted in the release of large amounts of radioactive substances into the surrounding environment and caused contamination. In the accident recovery process, Japan had made great efforts in public communication, including the government’s promotion of organization and planning the popularization and publicity of scientific knowledge in various forms, multi-channel information disclosure, and all-round communication and exchange, which can provide a reference for the development of relevant work in China. The nuclear-related public communication work in China can get four enlightenments. Firstly, the public communication system should be improved, and corresponding policies and mechanisms should be clarified. Secondly the popularization of nuclear science knowledge should be taken as the foundation for early and long-term development. Thirdly, the operators of nuclear facilities shall disclose relevant information according to the law and confront the curiosity or doubts of the public. Finally, multi-channel, multi-level and multi-frequency exchanges and interactions should be conducted to seek unity of understanding and balance of interests between the two sides.
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During a radiological or nuclear emergency, iodine thyroid blocking is an urgent protection action to prevent or reduce the absorption of radioactive iodine by thyroid. Although potassium iodide (KI) administration is recommended by WHO guidelines for iodine prophylaxis following nuclear accidents and is also widely implemented in most national guidelines, the scientific evidence for the guidelines lacks as the guidelines are mostly based on expert opinions and recommendations. This paper introduces the development and revision of WHO guidelines for iodine thyroid blocking published in 1989 and 1999, as well as the revision methods and main recommendations of the guidelines published in 2017, which supports the use of iodine thyroid blocking during a radiological or nuclear emergency.
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The peaceful use of nuclear energy has a history of nearly 80 years, and the development of nuclear energy in China has been actively and steadily promoted. Up to now, there have been three major nuclear power plant accidents in human history: Three Mile Island nuclear accident in the United States, Chernobyl nuclear accident in the former Soviet Union and Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan. However, the public in our country knows little about the three nuclear accidents. This paper introduces some books on the three nuclear accidents for the general public, which help the public understand the nuclear accidents from a non-professional point of view.
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Being fast, efficient and widely-covered, airborne monitoring of radiation environment is an irreplaceable technical means in nuclear accident emergency monitoring. To introduce radiation monitoring actions in nuclear accidents at Chernobyl in the Soviet Union in 1986, Three Mile Island in America in 1979 and Fukushima in Japan in 2011. Airborne monitoring of radiation environment plays an important role in radiation contamination area confirmation, radiation environment survey and technical supply to related national department. Therefore, it is an important part of nuclear emergency response. It is suggested to carry out research on new equipment technology for airborne monitoring of nuclear emergency in an orderly manner; to study the analysis and decision of airborne monitoring for nuclear accident emergency; effectively respond to nuclear accidents, to carry out the detailed survey of radiation environment around nuclear facilities throughout the country.
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Since the accident on March 11th 2011 at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station following the Great East Japan Earthquake,huge amount of radionuclide has been released to the surrounding environment.In this study,the environmental monitoring method,γ-ray dose rates,radioactivity in environmental samples,food,wild animals and plants,health situation of residents were summarized.Through summarizing the accident experience of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station,this research discussed and analyzed the accident combining with the situation in China.
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Objective To study the 137Cs source term from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant,based on inverse modeling,so as to provide reference for accident assessment and radiation protection.Methods The 137Cs source term was estimated by means of inverse modeling of nuclear accidents based on variational data assimilation combined with truncated total least squares (TTLS-VAR).The environmental monitoring data was balanced,and the dispersion model operator and monitoring data vector were corrected,in order to reduce the influence from atmospheric dispersion model error,and then improve the accuracy of inverse modeling of source term.Results The total amount of 137Cs released was estimated to be 1.74× 1016-3.73× 1016 Bq,with the highest peak of release rates estimated appearing on March 18,2011 and the average release rate in exceed of 1.00× 1012 Bq/s.The estimated total amount of 137 Cs was close to the data published by IAEA and UNSCEAR.Also,the estimated release sequences were in good consistent with Japanese analytical results of source terms and sequence of events.The highest peak of the estimated release rate curve corresponds to the leakage incident of unit 3.Conclusions In this study,the 137Cs source term from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is estimated by using TTLS-VAR inverse modeling,which could provide the basis for accident assessment and radiation protection.
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Objective:To investigate the radiation dose and its impact for human health after the Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan.Methods: The Fukushima nuclear accident caused by the Richter 9 earthquake of the east sea of Miyagi prefecture in Japan and huge tsunami was analyzed. And the detection results of the radiation dose from the nuclear accident that was named 7th grade event was evaluated whether existed effect for human health.Results: The radiation dose rate of the environment after this nuclear accident from the first nuclear power plant of Fukushima was increased, and the radioactive ranges of134Cs and137Cs mainly came from the leak of nuclear power plant were 100~500PBq and 6~20PBq, respectively. At the same time, the radioactive contaminations were found existed in water and foods, and they had posed a threat for marine organism.Conclusion: The detection result of nuclear accident of Fukushima has higher value for the evaluation of after-effect about human health, and the effects of Fukushima nuclear accident and its impact for life, property and ecological environment are worth pondering.
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A nuclear accident likely leads to the leakage of radiocesium to a large degree,which could poses threatens to the environment and human heahh.Hence,it is very important to remove radiocesium ion from the environment and human body in the aftermath of a nuclear accident.In this review,the new progress of radiocesium ion removal in a nuclear emergency is discussed.The main technique to reduce soil pollution is to remove and purify topsoil.The methods of purification include leaching method,electrokinetic process and soil immobilization.The technique to remove radiocesium from water is mainly via adsorption.Common adsorbents include crown ether,calix ether,ammonium molybdophosphate and Prussian blue.Radiocesium removal from human body is mainly via oral administration of Prussian blue at fractioned doses in a timely manner but spents a relatively long response time,possibly accompanied with some severe side effects,like hypopotassemia and physical damage of digestive tract.Therefore,new techniques are still in need of development to remove radiocesium ion from human body more effectively.
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The stable iodine prophylaxis plays an important role in public health response after nuclear power plants accident. According to the recent guidelines of the international organizations and other countries, the intervention level of stable iodine prevention, timing of taking medication, doses for different groups, and the contradictions were discussed in this paper. The chemical form and the formulation of the stable iodine were introduced, and something needs attention during stockpiling and distribution of the iodine. There were still some problems in China on the preparedness for the stable iodine prophylaxis after nuclear power plant accident, including the single type of potassium iodide tablet, short shelf life and no practical guidance. The preparedness of stable iodine should be strengthened.
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A total of 298577 children aged<18 years old in Fukuaka in Japan were screened for thyroid cancer after less than 3 years after nuclear accident. 110 children were diagnosed as thyroid cancer by fine needle aspiration cytology ( FNAC) and 87 cases received thyroid operation. The prevalence of thyroid cancer was 36. 8 / 100000 in population of<18 year old and 120 / 100000 at age of 16-18 years old. The 5th international expert symposium in Fukushima on radiation and health concluded that the high prevalence of thyroid cancer was not related with nuclear accident but to the screening. According to the findings, Willimas propsed a hypothesis: thyroid cancer in adults might originate from childhood. They had three stages for initiation and development of thyroid cancer: initial mutation stage, constraint growth stage, and non-constraint growth stage. The growth of thyroid cancer were stopped in the constraint stage, which was thyroid microcarcinoma.
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A total of 298577 children aged<18 years old in Fukuaka in Japan were screened for thyroid cancer after less than 3 years after nuclear accident. 110 children were diagnosed as thyroid cancer by fine needle aspiration cytology ( FNAC) and 87 cases received thyroid operation. The prevalence of thyroid cancer was 36. 8 / 100000 in population of<18 year old and 120 / 100000 at age of 16-18 years old. The 5th international expert symposium in Fukushima on radiation and health concluded that the high prevalence of thyroid cancer was not related with nuclear accident but to the screening. According to the findings, Willimas propsed a hypothesis: thyroid cancer in adults might originate from childhood. They had three stages for initiation and development of thyroid cancer: initial mutation stage, constraint growth stage, and non-constraint growth stage. The growth of thyroid cancer were stopped in the constraint stage, which was thyroid microcarcinoma.
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The Fukushima nuclear accident happened in 2011.This article introduced the recent studies about thyroid dose estimation,incidence of thyroid nodule,thyroid cyst and thyroid cancer in the children in Fukushima prefecture after the accident.The results suggested that the incidence of thyroid nodule and thyroid cyst had no significant increase.Nevertheless,the present research noted that the incidence of thyroid cancer was obviously higher than that in other areas in Japan,but high incidence may be due to the choice of the control group or the screening effect.Meanwhile,the contribution of 132Te to the thyroid dose and the incidence of thyroid cancer might not be ignored.The continuous monitoring before and after the operation of the nuclear power plant and the health evaculation after the accident are of importance.
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Objective:Through the design mode of Radiology and radiation protection information platform, reflects the importance of radiology information platform for public service, improve the construction speed of the practical application of horizontal, the implementation of training system and supporting platform for the construction of the subject librarian personnel. Methods:The shortcoming of the information platform, puts forward the design scheme of application of accelerating the construction of information platform and corresponding countermeasures. Results:The train subject librarians and the practical application for strong information platform, give full play to their respective functions, to ensure the nuclear emergency radiation well is very necessary. Conclusion: The construct of Radiological Medicine and protection information platform of scientific integrity, effectively play the subject librarian system, is an important guarantee to improve the nuclear accident emergency response mechanism.
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On March 11, 2011 eastern Japan was struck by magnitude 9.0 earthquake and an enormous tsunami which together killed over 20,500 people and resulted in the evacuation of over 320,000 people from the devastated areas. This paper introduces the damage sustained by the Fukushima-Daiichi nuclear power plant during this major natural disaster, as well as the protection of the public protection measures;nuclear accident in Fukushima is worth pondering for future energy development planning and response in Japan and around the world.
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Nuclear medical emergency rescue , as an important task for the military , has become a priority in many countries.The U.S.military has accumulated rich experience in the development of nuclear medical emergency rescue forces.This paper analyzes the legal status , roles, responsibilities and tasks of the U .S.military during nuclear emergency rescue as well as the characteristics and current status of nuclear emergency rescue forces , hoping to provide some refer-ences for development of our military nuclear medical emergency rescue forces .
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Objective To determine the artificial radionuclides levels in environmental samples collected in some areas of China following the Japanese Fukushima nuclear accident,and to evaluate the extent of radioactive contamination.Methods A total of 118 samples including aerosol,water,soil and biological samples were collected and the activity concentrations of 131I, 137Cs and other artificial radionuclides were analyzed by using high-purity germanium (HPGe) γ spectrometry.Results Artificial radionuclides 131I,134Cs,137Cs and 136Cs were detected in the aerosol samples on 2 April,2011 and the activity concentrations were 1720,247,289,and 23 μBq/m3,respectively.Trace amount of 131I was detected in one sample of rain water and two samples of surface soil with concentrations of 2.08 Bq/L,1.82 and 0.59 Bq/kg,respectively.131I was also detected in 18 vegetable samples which were collected from 2 April to 13 April with the range of 0.55 -2.68 Bq/kg.Neither abnormal concentrations of 131I nor 137Cs was detected in milk,drinking water,sea water and marine products samples.Conclusions During the Fukushima nuclear accident,although minute quantities of radionuclides were detected in some samples collected in China,the effective dose for adults attributed to the nuclear accident is extremely small and significantly below the level that could cause harm to the public.
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Objective To monitor the levels of radioactive contamination due to the Japanese Fukushima nuclear accident in Beijing,so as to provide scientific technical information for government to draw effective controlling strategy and processing mechanism.Methods The system of nuclear emergency nmonitoring was started,then the radioactive contamination levels of atmosphere,rain water,surface water and vegetables in Beijing were detected according to the relative survey regulations and technology criterions.Results During the period from 15 to 41 d after the accident,obvious radioactive contamination was found in the atmosphere of Beijing.The maximum radioactivity concentration of 131I ( 5.89 mBq/m3 ) was detected at 22 d after the accident.The radioactivity concentrations of 137Cs and 134Cs were surveyed forming their corresponding peaks at 20 d after the accident,but they were one magnitude lower than the peak value of 131I at least.In addition,the gross β radioactivity level in the water of Chao Bai-he river was verified to be in the range of 0.314 - 0.602 Bq/L. Conclusions The radioactive contamination due to Fukushima nuclear accident has not done visible harm to the public health in Beijing,but monitoring should be continued to observe the long-term effect of the accident.
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Objective To investigate the radiological contamination of body surface for inbound people from Japan to China during Fukushima nuclear accident.Methods According to The guidance for radiological contamination management for body surface issued by Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention,for people evacuated from Japan,the body surface monitoring of radiological contamination was performed by the related agencies in main provinces and cities in China. The monitoring data were collected,analyzed and reported to Ministry of Health.Results A total of 432 persons were checked.The monitoring results of 429 cases were close to the background level,while those of three persons were higher than the background level.Conclusions In general,the detected results were as low as the background level.The radiological contamination monitoring of body surface for people from Japan could provide scientific data to relax the horror and panic among them.