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Fukushima consequences still noticeable

Emergency protection in Germany considerably expanded

Year of issue 2021
Date 2021.02.23

The last intact reactor unit of Fukushima Daiichi Fukushima DaiichiFukushima Daiichi: View with last intact reactor unit Source: christian aslund/EyeEm/Stock.adobe.com

The reactor disaster at the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan 10 years ago has had a lasting effect on people and the environment. Around 300 square kilometres in the Fukushima region remain an exclusion area, and access is limited. Many people are suffering the consequences. This includes psychological stress in particular.

According to international data, the additional radiation exposure outside the exclusion area has decreased significantly. In 2021, it will be at a level like the natural radiation exposure in Germany.

BfS President Inge Paulini stresses that: "Even if a normal life is largely possible again outside the exclusion areas, the consequences of the disaster continue to have an effect and will have for a long time to come. Although there have been no illnesses caused directly by the radiation so far, many people have died as a result of the evacuation or are still suffering from mental illnesses. The exclusion area is still about as big as the city of Munich."

Long-term effects for the population as a research topic for the coming years

Japanese visitor in whole body counter in Berlin Japanese visitor in whole body counter in BerlinJapanese visitor uses the whole-body counter in Berlin to investigate whether she has ingested radioactivity.

Those outside the exclusion area today need not worry about their health. However, even today, some effects on the health of the local population cannot be conclusively determined. Especially in the case of cancers associated with ionising radiation, it often takes many years before they actually appear. Therefore, it still cannot be ruled out that illnesses will occur in the coming years as a direct result of the reactor accident.

In recent years, the BfS has been involved in preparing reports on the effects of the reactor accident in Fukushima for the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR). The latest UNSCEAR report is expected later this spring.

New topics for radiation protection and emergency planning – also in Germany

Portrait Dr. Inge Paulini Dr. Inge PauliniPresident of the Federal Office for Radiation Protection, Dr Inge Paulini

In the 10 years after the reactor accident, Germany has also drawn consequences for emergency preparedness. Paulini stressed: "The accident in Fukushima has shown that nuclear power poses a particularly high risk – even for highly developed industrial societies. We must therefore do everything we can in order to be as prepared as possible. In Germany, emergency protection for accidents or events involving the release of radioactive substances has therefore been fundamentally reorganised after Fukushima."

The BfS has made a significant contribution here. On behalf of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety, the German Commission on Radiological Protection (Strahlenschutzkommission; SSK) had analysed the findings from the reactor accident in Fukushima at an early stage and developed recommendations for the further development of emergency protection in Germany.

In this context, the BfS carried out extensive representative dispersion calculations for German nuclear power plants. It concluded that the areas around the nuclear power plants with existing pre-planned protective measures should be expanded in order to better protect the population. These planning radii were then adjusted accordingly.

Distribution of iodine tablets for iodine thyroid blocking of the thyroid gland newly regulated

The distribution of iodine tablets for iodine thyroid blocking of the thyroid gland was also newly regulated. If radioactive iodine is released after a nuclear incident, taking high doses of non-radioactive iodine tablets can prevent it from accumulating in the thyroid gland.

In 2020, under the leadership of the BfS, the inventories were renewed throughout Germany, considerably increased, and distributed to the federal states.

Establishment of the Federal Radiological Situation Centre (RLZ)

The new Radiation Protection Act also provides for the establishment of the Federal Radiological Situation Centre (RLZ). Under the direction of the Federal Ministry for the Environment, it is responsible for coordinating crisis response in supra-regional radiological emergencies.

At the RLZ, the BfS is responsible in particular for analysing and assessing the radiological situation and prepares a radiological situation report in order to provide information and forecasts for federal and state authorities in the event of a crisis. This forms an important basis for further decisions.

Further information

The BfS has assessed the current situation in Japan using internationally available data. The following list gives an overview of the radioactive contamination in the Fukushima region as well as other indicators:

Environmental contaminationShow / Hide

Caesium-137 deposited on the ground in kilobecquerel per square meter, based on helicopter measurements performed at the beginning of November 2011. Cäsium-137 auf dem BodenCaesium-137 deposited on the ground in kilobecquerel per square meter, based on helicopter measurements performed at the beginning of November 2011. Source: Japan Ministry for the Economy.Trade and Industry, METI

Outside the exclusion zone (the difficult-to-return zone), the soils in Japan are now hardly contaminated with radioactivity. The proportion of caesium-137, for example, has declined significantly in recent years because of natural decay and decontamination measures. Almost all other radionuclides have also decayed in the meantime.

A total of 1.6 petabecquerels of caesium-137 are still present in the ground in Japan today. This is about twice as much as in Germany immediately after the Chornobyl reactor accident.

Exclusion zone

This is particularly concentrated in the exclusion zone, where entry is therefore permitted only with written approval. In places where the most radioactivity was deposited on the Japanese landmass in 2011, levels are still so high that additional radiation exposure of more than 20 millisieverts per year may occur.

Open water zones of coastal waters

By 2013, in the open water zones of the coastal waters, the concentrations of caesium-137 had fallen to a level comparable to that before the accident. Only in the immediate vicinity of the nuclear power plant the sediments and fish inhabiting the seabed can still be highly contaminated with caesium-137.

Radiation doseShow / Hide

Outside the exclusion area, the additional radiation exposure to which the population is exposed has decreased significantly. The mean annual effective doses additionally caused by the accident are thus less than 0.5 millisieverts in Fukushima Prefecture and less than 0.1 millisieverts in the rest of Japan.

Radiation exposure in former evacuation areas

In the original evacuation areas to which the population was able to return, the additional radiation exposure in 2021 is expected to be less than 2.6 millisieverts per year and will thus be comparable to the average annual and natural radiation exposure per person in Germany.

However, in the remaining exclusion area, the additional dose can still exceed 20 millisieverts per year at certain locations.

Decontamination measuresShow / Hide

High-pressure cleaners that were used for the decontamination High-pressure cleanersThe picture shows high-pressure cleaners that were used for the decontamination of paved surfaces.

Outside the exclusion areas, houses, gardens, streets, schools, kindergartens, and public parks have now been largely decontaminated. In areas that were decontaminated, radiation exposure was reduced by 20–80% in some cases. This is evident, for example, in Fukushima City, where this has decreased from about 3 microsieverts per hour in 2011 to about 0.11 microsieverts per hour.

The reason for this is the radioactive decay of the deposited substances as well as decontamination measures. In addition, much of the radioactive contamination has since been washed away because of weather conditions or has penetrated deeper into the soil.

FoodstuffsShow / Hide

Monitoring personnel wearing face masks performs checks on rice bags in Fukushima Rice testing FukushimaRice bags are tested for contamination in Fukushima

Food from Japan and the Fukushima region is safe to eat today. On one hand, this is due to programmes for monitoring radioactivity in food that were started immediately after the accident. On the other hand, the radioactive contamination of food was significantly below that after the accident in Chornobyl (Russian: Chernobyl).

Elevated readings in the more severely affected areas

In the more severely affected areas of Japan, wild mushrooms and wild boar may show elevated readings – similar to what happened in Germany as a result of the reactor accident in Chornobyl.

According to recent scientific investigations, however, the additional dose from contaminated food in Fukushima Prefecture is less than 0.01 millisieverts per year. For comparison: In Germany, each person receives an annual average dose of about 0.3 millisieverts from ingesting natural radioactivity with food.

Health impactsShow / Hide

Direct radiation illnesses as a result of the reactor accident have not occurred to date. However, cancers in particular often have long latency periods. Therefore, it still cannot be ruled out that in a few years corresponding diseases will develop in the population as a direct consequence of the reactor accident.

In addition, more than 50 elderly and sick people have died as a result of the lack of medical care because of the evacuation. Many evacuees also still suffer from mental illness. More than 2,000 deaths are now considered to be long-term consequences of the evacuation in Fukushima Prefecture alone (disaster-related deaths).

Overall, it has become apparent that societal impacts and individual psychological consequences of disasters must be given greater consideration and must also be included in the concrete planning for radiological emergency protection.

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State of 2021.02.23

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