Radiological Protection of People and the Environment in the Event of a Large Nuclear Accident


Draft document: Radiological Protection of People and the Environment in the Event of a Large Nuclear Accident
Submitted by Fumio MATSUDA, Nuclear Regulation Authority, Japan
Commenting as an individual

ICRP wrongly states on line 3254 that "childhood thyroid cancer cases found in Fukushima Prefecture are unlikely to be the result of radiation exposure after the accident." In Fukushima Prefecture, a total of 218 children were diagnosed with thyroid cancer, including 45 suspected cancer cases as of the end of March 2019. The number of patients is still increasing. Are there any other causes other than the nuclear accident to explain this unusual number? Fukushima authorities and experts have not admitted the causal relationship between the accident and thyroid cancer because the precise exposure dose is unknown. However, if there are no other reasonable causes, it is rational to estimate the causal relationship between the unusual number of 218 cancer patients and the accident. Nevertheless, Fukushima authorities and experts continue hiding information (no-transparency), excluding local people in the investigation process (no-inclusiveness) and not explaining it to the public (no-accountability). Does ICRP know that as many as 218 children have thyroid cancer in Fukushima? Why can ICRP say that the cause of thyroid cancer is not exposure from the nuclear accident? If ICRP professionals maintain the same attitude as Fukushima professionals, no one will trust the dose limit even if ICRP set the criteria such as 20mSv / y. I hope ICRP will admit the causal relationship between the accident and thyroid cancer.


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