Abstract
The tsunami that occurred at the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake caused a severe accident with a hydrogen explosion at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. The radioactive material leaked was the second largest compared to the Chernobyl accident in 1986. The risk of carcinogenesis due to low-dose radiation exposure was concerned, and many residents were evacuated. What is important for risk science is (1) to estimate the magnitude of risk as accurately as possible; (2) to provide it as a basis for citizens’ decision-making; and (3) to propose effective policies to reduce overall risk. Initially, the concentration of radioactive substances in agricultural and fisheries products sometimes exceeded the safety standards, but from around 2015, it was almost eliminated. Soil pollution does not diminish easily, but it can be dealt with by treating the soil. The food safety standard for radioactive cesium in Japan was set at 100 Bq/kg after the accident, but the actual exposure dose from food was sufficiently low. Issues will be discussed regarding how to set safety standards and the concept of risk based on the linear no-threshold model.
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Acknowledgments
We thank T. Tsuji for providing figures. This chapter is partly supported by the grant from the Ministry of the Environment, Japan.
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Yasutaka, T., Matsuda, H., Kaji, K. (2021). Risk of Radioactive Contamination Caused by the Accident of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. In: Matsuda, H. (eds) Ecological Risk Management. Ecological Research Monographs. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6934-4_3
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