Developing an Educational Program to Help Students Learn about the Resident Evacuation Protocols and Contamination Inspection Undertaken during Nuclear Disasters

Abstract

protection measures should be implemented for evacuees in case of nuclear disaster (Evacuation Exit Inspection: EEI)." While the EEI system itself was built after Fukushima accident, there are few educators nationwide who understand the details. Therefore, in this study, we developed desk-top teaching materials that comprehensively helps students understand of EEI after they had undergone a two-hour lecture that involved the utilization of the developed teaching materials. By combining these desk-top teaching materials with evacuation drills that include actual residents, it will be possible to initiate the human resource development necessary for building and implementing a stronger nuclear disaster prevention system. Development of such an educational program is very important for improving nuclear disaster prevention in Japan.

Investigation of local governments’ preparation for evacuation in nuclear emergency in Japan

“…Given the shortage of human resources, further education opportunities are needed in all of the local governments. In recent years, there have been many positive reports in Japan, including those on training courses for EEI and the development of a new radiation measurement instrument for the thyroid (Tsujiguchi et al, 2018(Tsujiguchi et al, , 2019aYamada et al, 2018;Yajima et al, 2019;Li et al, 2019). It is expected that education opportunities will be expanded in the future.…”

“…At the time of the NERG revision in 2015, it was determined that the Evacuation Exit Inspection (EEI) should be conducted as one of the protective measures for evacuees in case of nuclear emergency (Tsujiguchi et al, 2018(Tsujiguchi et al, , 2019a. The EEI is an inspection to determine whether there is external radioactive contamination of residents who evacuate from a Precautionary Action Zone (PAZ; within approximately 5 km of the nuclear power plant) and Urgent Protective action planning Zone (UPZ; from the outer rim of the PAZ extending a distance of 30 km).…”

The difficulty of nuclear emergency prevention measures during natural disasters: ongoing challenges in Japan

“…While it is essential to prioritise risk reduction in natural disasters, it is undesirable to have a situation where there is no provision for radiation disaster preparedness. Therefore, it is imperative to empower residents living around nuclear power plants to protect themselves through measures such as the pre-distribution of stable iodine tablets and thorough radiation disaster education [18,19]. Additional emergency preparedness measures should be adopted at both individual and municipal level, especially in areas where the geographical risk of being at a disadvantage during evacuation operations, compared to other areas, is known in advance.…”

The Accident at Tokyo Electric Power Company Incorporated’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station: A Review of Radiation-Exposed Medical Care and Waste (Secondary Publication)

“…Technical data was presented under the title "Developing an educational program to help students learn about the resident evacuation protocols and contamination inspection undertaken during nuclear disasters" by Tsujiguchi et al [4]. The authors introduced table-top teaching materials developed to help university undergraduates understand the evacuation exit inspection in a comprehensive manner.…”