RADIATION PROTECTION ›› 2025, Vol. 45 ›› Issue (4): 428-436.

Previous Articles     Next Articles

Research progress on radiation dose and health effects on rescue workers and the public in the Fukushima accident

YANG Xue, XUE Xiangming, GU Xiaona, WU Xiaoyan, YANG Kai, ZHAN Jingming   

  1. China Institute for Radiation Protection, Division of Radiology and Environmental Medicine, Taiyuan 030006
  • Received:2025-01-10 Published:2025-07-28

Abstract: This article was based on the 2021 report of the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR). In connection with other research results in recent years, the radiation dose and health effects on rescue workers and the public after the Fukushima nuclear accident were comprehensively analyzed. The results indicate that the maximum effective dose for workers and contractors at nuclear power plants after the Fukushima accident occurred in the first year of the nuclear accident, reaching 678.8 mSv and 238.4 mSv respectively. After April 2012, the doses for contractors were consistently higher than those for nuclear power plant workers. Except for the first year, the doses for contractors were all within the prescribed limit of 50 mSv/a. Between March and December 2011, 1,757 workers had thyroid accumulated absorbed doses exceeding 100 mGy, and it was estimated that 13 workers had thyroid accumulated absorbed doses exceeding 2 Gy. In the first year after the accident, the effective doses for the public in the non-evacuated areas ranged from 0.079 to 5.3 mSv, and thyroid doses ranged from 0.46 to 21 mGy. Both increased with decreasing age groups. The effective doses for the public in the first ten years were approximately 2 to 3 times that of the first year, and the lifetime doses were about 4 times higher. No clear health effects or deaths attributable to radiation exposure were observed among the personnel involved in the emergency response to the Fukushima accident. There is no evidence to suggest that the adverse health effects of the residents in Fukushima can be directly attributed to the radiation exposure from the Fukushima accident. It is important to improve the emergency radiation monitoring system, reserve emergency monitoring personnel, and pay attention to the baseline health monitoring of local residents near nuclear power plants.

Key words: Fukushima, health effects, rescue workers, radiation dose, public

CLC Number: 

  • TL73