Management Perspective: Structure of Radiation Emergency Response in Japan

Year and site

Type of accident

Radiation source

Contents of the accident

1971 Ichibara

Exposure

Ir-192 (industrial use)

A radiation source for nondestructive inspection was lost; a worker picked it up and brought back to his home. A total of six people who visited the home were exposed

1998 Nagasaki

Exposure

Co-60 (industrial use)

Error in retracting source; a worker directly handled the source for 30–60 s

1998 Okinawa

Exposure

Ir-192 (medical use)

Carelessness in touching the source while changing it

1999 Ibaraki

Criticality accident

Uranium (industrial use)

Exceeding limit value of Uranium solution was poured, and then criticality occurred. Three workers were exposed to γ-rays and neutrons and two of them died

1999–2000 Tokyo

Exposure

LINAC (medical use)

Error in inputting dose to computer which controlled therapeutic dose. 23 patients were exposed with exceeding dose

2000 Chiba

Industrial use Exposure

X-ray machine

Three workers intentionally unlocked safety device and their hands were exposed

2000 Gifu, Ibaraki, Mie, Nagano, Saitama

Witness source

Th-232

Monazite ore containing radioactive tritium had been sprayed on the site and repeated failure to report was discovered

2000 Osaka

Contamination

I-125 (laboratory use)

I-125 has been spread at JR Takatsuki Station

2000 Chiba

Inhalation

Natural uranium

Eight workers inhaled natural uranium in the glass company

2001 Tokyo

Exposure

LINAC (medical use)

A man was working on the ceiling and was accidentally exposed to radiation in generation testing

2001 Iwate

Exposure

X-ray machine (educational institutions)

A teacher used the X-ray equipment to show the bones of fingers to students during a class in a high school and then erythema developed in the hand later

2004 Hokkaido

Contamination

F-18 (medical use)

Dealing with medical radionuclide F-18/H₂O, workers were contaminated when they were transferring the nuclide to a plastic bag

2005 Tochigi

Exposure

X-ray machine (industrial use)

In the clean room of an optical equipment company, a worker was accidentally exposed to X-ray from the irradiation device for electrostatic removal of the lens

2008 Ichihara

Case of theft

Ir-192 (industrial use)

A source of nondestructive inspection was stolen and found in the river about 1 month later

2011 Fukushima

Nuclear disaster

I-131, Cs-137, Cs-134, etc.

TEPCO Fukushima Daiichi NPP accident. Large amounts of radionuclides were released to environment and workers, first responders and residents were contaminated and exposed

Accidents/incidents presented in the table are those involving NIRS terms of providing advice, dose assessment, or treatment

After the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island of the USA in 1979, the Central Disaster Prevention Council (CDPC) in the Prime Minister’s office reinforced emergency preparedness for dealing with a nuclear power station emergency and issued the report “Urgent Disaster Countermeasures to be taken for Nuclear Facilities by Governmental Agencies” in July 1979. In June 1980, the Nuclear Safety Commission (NSC) of the Japanese government came up with a guideline entitled “Off-site Emergency Planning and Preparedness for Nuclear Power Plants.” According to this guideline, the National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS) was selected as a radiation emergency hospital for receiving victims heavily exposed to radiation and/or contaminated with radionuclides due to nuclear or radiological accidents. Not only radiation accidents at Chernobyl, Ukraine, in 1986 and Goiania, Brazil, in 1987 but also the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995 and fire and explosion at Bituminization Demonstration Facility of Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation (PNC), Ibaraki Prefecture, in 1997 necessitated further strengthening of the preparedness and planning. In 1999, a criticality accident occurred; three workers were overexposed to γ-rays and neutrons and two of them died of failure of multiple organs due to acute radiation syndrome (ARS) (Akashi et al. 2001). In 2000, the Basic Plan for Disaster was revised and NSC published a report entitled “The Role of Radiation Emergency Medicine” in 2001 (NSC 2001

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