Risk of thyroid cancer after the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident

Abstract

The appropriateness of the initial response and countermeasures taken following the Fukushima nuclear power plant accident after the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011 should be further examined. Implementation of a prospective epidemiological study on human health risks from low-dose radiation exposure and comprehensive health protection from radiation should be emphasized on a basis of the lessons learnt from the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident. In contrast, the doses to a vast majority of the population in Fukushima were not high enough to expect to see any increase in incidence of cancer and health effects in the future, however, public concerns about the long-term health effects of radioactive environmental contamination have increased in Japan. Since May 2011, the Fukushima Prefecture started the Fukushima Health Management Survey Project with the purpose of long-term health care administration and early medical diagnosis/treatment for prefectural residents. In this report, risk and countermeasures of thyroid cancer occurrence after nuclear accidents, especially due to early exposure of radioactive iodine, will be focused upon to understand the current situation of risk of thyroid cancer in Fukushima, and the difficult challenges surrounding accurate estimations of low-dose and low-dose rate radiation exposures will be discussed.

Keywords: Chernobyl; Fukushima; Radioactive iodine; Thyroid cancer.