The 4^th Citizen-Scientist International Symposium on Radiation Protection: Prospectus

Japanese

For further scientific elucidation of and better response measures to health effects of radiation exposure caused by TEPCO's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident

The accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant operated by Tokyo Electric Power Co., has radioactively contaminated not only Fukushima Prefecture and its surrounding areas, the entire eastern Japan and their waters, but also the broad extent of Northern Hemisphere. Even today, no credible technologies are on the horizon to keep radioactive substances from leaking into the environment. The apprehension of the people in contaminated areas (children, citizens, and accident “liquidators”) is exacerbated by the fact that the health effects of low-dose radiation exposure are not yet well understood, and above all, by the mistrust in the information and radiation protection measures provided by the Japanese Government. What is required now is to minimize the health risks ― not the cost of rehabilitation ― by taking proactive radiation protection measures based on the precautionary principle.

Each year, since "3.11" in 2011, we have organized an international symposium on the health effects of ionizing radiation, inviting experts who have steadfastly maintained their independence from governments, industries, and main stream academic societies under their influence, in order to learn latest scientific findings on radiation health effects. We have tried to put the knowledge into practice so we can figure out how to improve radiation protection measures. The past three symposia have revealed the following crucial points:

1. Recommendations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) ― which provide the basis for the current radiation protection measures in the radioactively contaminated regions by the Japanese government ― are suspected to be based on underestimated radiation health effects;
2. Very little is known about the early exposure to the radioactive plume immediately after the accident, resulting in difficulty with dose reconstruction, which is critical in predicting potential health effects;
3. Radiation health effects can include not only cancer but a variety of non-cancer diseases;
4. Some of the abnormalities observed in animals after the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident, have already been discovered in Fukushima prefecture;
5. Official statements suggest the annual exposure dose of 20 mSv (or even 100 mSv) could be the threshold for health effects.

These outcomes have been published in leading scientific journals in Japan, and communicated publicly in both Japanese and English on our web site (http://csrp.jp).

The 4^th Citizen-Scientist International Symposium on Radiation Protection, to be held in November 2014, will deepen the discussion on radiation health effects and how to deal with them, building on the past achievements. A special attention will be placed on the current status as well as the appropriate form of risk communication for radiation, aiming to broaden the international network.

The Focal Points of the 4^th CSRP International Symposium

Last October, precisely the day before the inauguration of the 3^rd CSRP International Symposium, the Cabinet of Shinzo Abe decided the Basic Policies to put into practice the stipulations of the “Nuclear Accident Child Victims’ Support Law”¹. The Basic Policies betrayed the expectations of all the people who had longed for, and devoted themselves to, the making of the Act ― many victims, their supporters, municipal officials in the affected areas in Tohoku and Kanto regions requesting for inclusion in the support target area, lawyers, Members of Parliament, etc. : it designates only the most contaminated 33 municipalities in Fukushima Prefecture as target area, despite the fact that inclusion of areas subject to the additional radiation dose of 1 mSv or more per year had been considered in the legislation process in the National Assembly. The Policies clearly show favoritism to the residents and the returnees, although the Act stipulates equal rights and compensation among evacuees, migrants, residents and returnees ― a discriminatory policy to prevent exodus from the contaminated region.

Of particular concern, from the viewpoint of radiation protection, is that the Basic Plan places more importance on risk communication. An emphasis is placed on reinforcing the policy to suppress and control the freedom to feel fear and anxiety about radiation as well as to imprint a fixed idea that “the problem does not reside in the radiation contamination from the nuclear power plant accident and the resultant health effects, but rather in radiophobia.” This is a way to substitute the issue of radiation contamination with a mental problem, blaming the victims, not the perpetrator, reminiscent of policies employed after the Chernobyl nuclear accident. In particular, a clearly misleading form of communication has been employed by the government and a group of its experts underestimating health risks. The government and “experts” have used expressions such as, “Health effects under 100 mSv (20 mSv): have not been proven; are not likely to occur; are indistinguishable from effects due to other factors; are not statistically significant." These are in turn paraphrased by the mass media in headlines as “No health effects under 100 mSv (20 mSv).” However, these misleading expressions have never been corrected by the Ministry of the Environment and “experts.” Consequently, only the word, “no health effects,” are firmly imprinted in the consciousness of the great majority, diluting their sense of crisis.

In the beginning of the round-table discussion at the 3^rd CSRP International Symposium, Dr. Sebastian Pflugbeil, Co-Chair of the round-table, evoked a fundamental thinking of radiation protection by posing a question, “What do we accept today?” The permissible dose has been raised by a handful of experts without predicting adverse health effects based on up-to-date scientific findings. Dr. Pflugbeil concluded his opening speech referring to the status of the TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant : “Just from what I heard, I think the situation is extremely dangerous. I wish a 'knight wearing lead armor' would rise and help remove the remaining nuclear fuel, even if waving the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) flag, and then tell the children what we have been discussing in this symposium."

We still do not have an adequate understanding of how dangerous the situation is. If IAEA had a correct understanding, we wish they would tell us. Even if the meltdown debris were to be removed, where shall we put it? If, instead of retrieving, we were to confine it in sarcophagus, would it be possible to seal it and prevent leakage for centuries? It's not guaranteed that there would be no contingency during the decommissioning work, more natural disaster such as earthquake, tsunami, etc., or some other huge destructive force. What is surprising is that, in the areas affected by the accident, no concrete counter measures have been drawn against such emergencies that might arise in the future. Even if we are lucky enough not to face such severe situations, how much radiation exposure and its effects would the decommissioning and decontamination workers ultimately face? What about the residents who have been exposed already? How much of the damage sustained by residents continuing to live under contamination will our society accept?

In the hope of finding a new light in the extremely difficult depth of darkness at present, we would like to hold the 4^th Citizen-Scientist International Symposium. Thank you for your cooperation and your participation.

¹The official title is “Act concerning the promotion of measures to provide living support to the Victims, including the children who were affected by the TEPCO Nuclear Accident in order to protect and support their lives” (Act No. 48 of 2012, June 27, 2012).

Summary of the Symposium

We will have presentations by invited lecturers on November 23^rd, while the 24^th will be devoted for round-table discussion.

For the moment we plan to have 3 sessions for each day.

Sunday November 23 : Lecture Sessions

• Session 1. Information and mass media
• Session 2. Laws and rights
• Session 3. Public health and risk communication

Monday November 24 : Roundtable

• Discussion 1. Emergency response measures and radiation protection
• Discussion 2. Risk communication and mental health care
• Discussion 3. Outlook for the future and action plan

Executive Committee of the Citizen-Scientist
International Symposium on Radiation Protection

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