Whole-body counter survey results 4 months after the Fukushima Dai-ichi NPP accident in Minamisoma City, Fukushima

• Published in: Journal of radiological protection Vol. 34; no. 4; pp. 787 - 799
• Main Authors: Hayano, Ryugo S, Watanabe, Yuni N, Nomura, Shuhei, Nemoto, Tsuyoshi, Tsubokura, Masaharu, Hanai, Tatsuo, Kumemoto, Yuki, Kowata, Satoshi, Oikawa, Tomoyoshi, Kanazawa, Yukio
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Bristol IOP Publishing 01.12.2014; Institute of Physics
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Applied sciences; Biological and medical sciences; Biological effects of radiation; Body Burden; Cesium Radioisotopes - analysis; early internal dose; Energy; Environmental Exposure - statistics & numerical data; Exact sciences and technology; Female; Fukushima Dai-ichi NPP accident; Fukushima Nuclear Accident; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; General, economic and professional studies; Health Care Surveys; Humans; Japan - epidemiology; Male; Middle Aged; Radiation Dosage; Radiation Monitoring - statistics & numerical data; Radioprotection; Risk Assessment; Staff. Occupational work. Work management. Control. Safety. Accidents. Professional diseases; Tissues, organs and organisms biophysics; Urban Population - statistics & numerical data; whole body counting; Whole-Body Counting - statistics & numerical data; Young Adult; Asia; Japan; Survey; Urban environment; Nuclear power plant; Nuclear explosion; Whole body; Radioprotection; Nuclear accident
• DOI: 10.1088/0952-4746/34/4/787
• ISSN: 0952-4746; 1361-6498

Using the first WBC unit installed in Fukushima Prefecture after the accident, the radiocesium body burdens of 566 high-risk residents of Minamisoma city were measured in July 2011 at the Minamisoma Municipal General Hospital. The analysis of the data was challenging because this chair-type, WBC unit, did not have sufficient shielding against background gamma rays and methods had to be developed to reliably compensate for the body-attenuated background radiation. Fortunately, data for repeated tests of hospital staff members using both the chair-type and well-shielded FASTSCAN WBC units, installed in September 2011, were available and could be used to check the validity of the analysis. The CEDs of all subjects, estimated under the assumption of acute inhalation in March 2011, were found to be less than 1 mSv.