Review of articles related to the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station published in the Japanese Journal of Health Physics; Opinion and others (Secondary Publication)

Takahara, Shogo; Iimoto, Takeshi*; Igarashi, Takayuki*; Kawabata, Masako*

Journal of Radiation Protection and Research, 50(1), p.1 - 9, 2025/03

https://doi.org/10.14407/jrpr.2023.00703

The Health Physics Society of Japan established a working group to obtain insights and findings from articles related to the 1F accident, published in the Japanese Journal of Health Physics. This study describes the review results of 47 articles classified into the field without risk communication, environmental measurement and monitoring, radiation dose measurement and assessment, radiation medicine, and radioactive waste. The reviewed articles contain various insights and issues depending on the authors' standpoints and relevant social interests. As a result, the 1F accident relevant articles offer various discussion points depending on the authors' awareness of the issues, which give an opportunity to make reconsiderations on what kind of academic system health physics or radiation protection should be on the basis of the experiences from the 1F accident. Note that this is an English translation of an article published in Japanese Journal of Health Physics.

and study of biological effects on cancer cells in the presence of metallic materials during radiotherapy

Nagano, Takuya*; Matsuya, Yusuke; Kaida, Atsushi*; Nojima, Hitomi*; Furuta, Takuya; Sato, Kaoru; Yoshimura, Ryoichi*; Miura, Masahiko*

Journal of Radiation Research (Internet), 65(5), p.628 - 639, 2024/09

https://doi.org/10.1093/jrr/rrae062

In X-ray therapy, radiation regimen is planned to eliminate tumors while minimizing side effects on normal tissue. When irradiating the oral cavity, which includes dental metallic crowns, intense mucositis can occasionally be induced. However, the mechanism underlying the radiosensitization remains unclear. In this study, we investigated the radiosensitization mechanism using cell experiments and computational simulations. As a result, the enhancement ratio observed in the cell experiments was 1.2-1.4, which was found to be predominately attributed to local dose increase near metal. On the other hand, as a result of dose evaluation based on CT images as a preclinical test, it was found that the dose increase was underestimated due to the complex anatomical structure of the human body, and microscopic dose evaluation was necessary. This outcome contributes to the precise understanding of side effects on normal cells around metals.

SUMRAY: R and Python codes for calculating cancer risk due to radiation exposure of a population

Sasaki, Michiya*; Furukawa, Kyoji*; Satoh, Daiki; Shimada, Kazumasa; Kudo, Shinichi*; Takagi, Shunji*; Takahara, Shogo; Kai, Michiaki*

Journal of Radiation Protection and Research, 48(2), p.90 - 99, 2023/06

https://doi.org/10.14407/jrpr.2022.00213

This paper reports on the calculation code that is the result of the activities of the "Task Group for Development of Cancer Risk Estimation Codes Associated with Radiation Exposure (FY2020-2021)" established by the Japan Health Physics Society. In order to promote research on the estimation of cancer risk associated with radiation exposure, the Task Group decided to disclose the source code, including the algorithm and parameters used in the calculations, and to release the code under a license that permits modification and redistribution of the code. The computational code was named SUMRAY and coded in two computer languages, that is R and Python. The code is capable of calculating the accumulated excess risk using Monte Carlo methods with a 95% confidence interval. The results of SUMRAY were compared with the results of the existing codes whose source code is not publicly available, under the same calculation conditions. From the results, it was found that they were in reasonable agreement within the confidence interval. It is expected that SUMRAY, an open-source software, will be used as a common basis for cancer risk estimation studies associated with radiation exposure.

Implication of E3 ligase RAD18 in UV-induced mutagenesis in human induced pluripotent stem cells and neuronal progenitor cells

Shimada, Mikio*; Tokumiya, Takumi*; Miyake, Tomoko*; Tsukada, Kaima*; Kanzaki, Norie; Yanagihara, Hiromi*; Kobayashi, Junya*; Matsumoto, Yoshihisa*

Journal of Radiation Research (Internet), 64(2), p.345 - 351, 2023/03

https://doi.org/10.1093/jrr/rrac099

External exposure assessment in the Fukushima accident area for governmental policy planning in Japan, 1; Methodologies for personal dosimetry applied after the accident

Sanada, Yukihisa; Yoshimura, Kazuya; Sato, Rina; Nakayama, Mariko*; Tsubokura, Masaharu*

Journal of Radiation Research (Internet), 64(1), p.2 - 10, 2023/01

https://doi.org/10.1093/jrr/rrac079

The evacuation orderareas established due to the accident at the Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings' (TEPCO) Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) have been reorganized according to the decrease in ambient dose rates and the decontamination progress. The Japanese government decided to decontaminate the difficult-to-return areas and lift the evacuation order by 2030. This radiation protection strategy can be optimized by examining emergency exposure situations to date and the existing exposure after the accident. This article reviews the methods that can determine the individual radiation doses of residents who should return to their homes when the evacuation order is lifted in the specific reconstruction reproduction base area and the difficult-to-return areas outside this base area and summarizes the points to be considered when implementing these methods. In Part 1 of this article, we review the efforts made by the Japanese government and research institutes to assess radiation doses to residents after the FDNPP accident.

Analysis of the activities of the website "Question and Answer about radiation in daily life" after the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and some lessons learned from it; To pass on this experience to the future

Kono, Takahiko; Tanaka, Masato*; Tanaka, Hitomi*; Shimo, Michikuni*; Torii, Hiroyuki*; Uno, Kazuko*

Journal of Radiation Protection and Research, 47(3), p.167 - 179, 2022/09

https://doi.org/10.14407/jrpr.2021.00346

After the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant, artificial radionuclides such as radioactive cesium and iodine were released into the environment. It caused great anxiety not only in the vicinity of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant but also in other regions of the world. Some members of the Japan Health Physics Society (JHPS), a leading academic society in Japan in the field of radiation protection, volunteered to establish a website called "Question and Answer about radiation in Daily Life" shortly after the accident to help reduce the residents anxiety about the health effects of radiation. In August 2011, Committee for "Question and Answer about radiation in Daily Life" was established in JHPS, making the website-related activities a responsibility of JHPS. The Q&A website continued to respond to the questions from the general public with expertise and sincerity until February 2013 when the Committee members decided to end the activities because the number of questions received had gradually decreased with the passage of time. This paper aims to introduce the following: the activities of the Q&A website during the two years (2011-2013), the stance chosen for the activities, the information related to the website activities and the analysis of Twitter data. Building on the experience and the knowledge obtained from the activities, it also discusses issues and experiences that can be utilized in the initial response to emergencies for radiation protection experts as well as other fields.

Detection limit of electron spin resonance for Japanese deciduous tooth enamel and density separation method for enamel-dentine separation

Oka, Toshitaka; Takahashi, Atsushi*; Koarai, Kazuma; Kino, Yasushi*; Sekine, Tsutomu*; Shimizu, Yoshinaka*; Chiba, Mirei*; Suzuki, Toshihiko*; Osaka, Ken*; Sasaki, Keiichi*; et al.

Journal of Radiation Research (Internet), 63(4), p.609 - 614, 2022/07

AA2021-0724.pdf:0.68MB

https://doi.org/10.1093/jrr/rrac033

Electron spin resonance (ESR) dosimetry is one of the most powerful tools for radiation dose reconstruction. The detection limit of this technique using human teeth is reported to be 56 mGy or 67 mGy; however, the absorbed dose of Fukushima residents after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FNPP) accident was estimated to be lower than this detection limit. Our aim is to assess the absorbed radiation dose of children in Fukushima Prefecture after the accident; therefore, it is important to estimate the detection limit for their teeth. The detection limit for enamel of deciduous teeth of Japanese children separated by the mechanical method is estimated to be 115.0 mGy. The density separation method can effectively separate enamel from third molars of Japanese people. As we have collected thousands of teeth from children in Fukushima, the present technique may be useful to examine their external absorbed dose after the FNPP accident.

Radiation monitoring in the residential environment; Time dependencies of air dose rate and Cs inventory

Yoshimura, Kazuya; Nakama, Shigeo; Fujiwara, Kenso

Journal of Radiation Protection and Research, 47(1), p.30 - 38, 2022/03

https://doi.org/10.14407/jrpr.2021.00199

Experimental evaluation of scattered X-ray spectra due to X-ray therapeutic and diagnosis equipment for eye lens dosimetry of medical staff

Kowatari, Munehiko*; Nagamoto, Keisuke*; Nakagami, Koichi*; Tanimura, Yoshihiko; Moritake, Takashi*; Kunugita, Naoki*

Journal of Radiation Protection and Research, 47(1), p.39 - 49, 2022/03

https://doi.org/10.14407/jrpr.2021.00220

Lifetime risk assessment of lung cancer incidence for nonsmokers in Japan considering the joint effect of radiation and smoking based on the life span study of atomic bomb survivors

Shimada, Kazumasa; Kai, Michiaki*

Journal of Radiation Protection and Research, 46(3), p.83 - 97, 2021/09

https://doi.org/10.14407/jrpr.2020.00255

[Background] The lifetime risk of lung cancer incidence owing to radiation for non-smokers is overestimated because the average cancer baseline among a population including smokers is used. In recent years, the generalized multiplicative (GM) excess relative risk (ERR) model has been developed in the life span study of atomic bomb survivors to consider the joint effect of radiation and smoking. Based on this background, the issues of radiation risk assessment considering smoking will be discussed in this paper in 2 parts. [Materials and Methods] Part 1: We proposed a simple method of estimating the baseline risk for non-smokers using current smoking data. We performed sensitivity analysis on baseline risk estimation to discuss the birth cohort effects of birth year effect and smoking history. Part 2: We applied the GM ERR model for Japanese smokers to calculate lifetime attributable risk (LAR). We also performed a sensitivity analysis with other ERR models (e.g., simple additive (SA) ERR model). [Results] Part 1: The lifetime baseline risk (LBR) for non-smokers were 54% (44% - 60%) or males and 24% (18% - 29%) for females, which were lower than the LBRs for all adults including smokers. Part 2: When comparing the LAR between the SA ERR model and the GM ERR model, if the radiation dose was 200 mGy or less, the difference between these ERR models was within the standard deviation of the LAR owing to the uncertainty of the smoking information.