The Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) accident that occurred after the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011 released large quantities of radionuclides to the environment. The long-term effects of radioactive cesium (Cs) on biota are of particular concern. We investigated the accumulation of radioactive Cs derived from the FDNPP accident, and chronic effects of environmental rad...

The effects of radiation on abundance of common birds in Fukushima can be assessed from the effects of radiation in Chernobyl. Abundance of birds was negatively related to radiation, with a significant difference between Fukushima and Chernobyl. Analysis of 14 species common to the two areas revealed a negative effect of radiation on abundance, differing between areas and species. The relations...

Forests in Fukushima and neighboring prefectures accumulated atmospheric fallout of radioactive materials after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident. We investigated the initial behavior of Cs deposited in coniferous forest plantations. Furthermore, we conducted in-situ measurements of radioactivity in coniferous and broadleaf forest canopies. The results of this study demonstrate...

In order to investigate genetic impact of a large amount of radionuclides released by the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident in 2011, we surveyed 2,304 haploid genomes of Drosophila melanogaster collected in three localities in Fukushima in 2012 and 2013 for chromosomal inversions. No unique inversion was found in 298 genomes in 2012 and only two in 2,006 genomes in 2013. The obser...

BACKGROUND The accidents that occurred at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant after the Great East Japan Earthquake on 11 March 2011 have resulted in long-term, ongoing anxiety among the residents of Fukushima, Japan. Soon after the disaster, Fukushima Prefecture launched the Fukushima Health Management Survey to investigate long-term low-dose radiation exposure caused by the accident. Fu...

The relationship between the reported ambient dose equivalent (H*(10)) and the individual dose rate recorded by medical staff in Fukushima City after the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was evaluated, following a 9.0-magnitude earthquake that struck the east coast of Japan. Personal dose equivalent (H(p)(10)) ranged from 0.08 to 1.63 µSv h(-1) and H*(10) ranged from 0.86 t...

A car-borne survey for dose rate in air was carried out in March and April 2011 along an expressway passing northwest of the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Station which released radionuclides starting after the Great East Japan Earthquake on March 11, 2011, and in an area closer to the Fukushima NPS which is known to have been strongly affected. Dose rates along the expressway, i.e. relative...

A magnitude 9.0 earthquake and tsunami originating off the east coast of Japan triggered the explosive release of radioactive isotopes from one of four nuclear power plants in the affected area. This event has been compared with the 1986 nuclear accident at Chernobyl, the 1945 atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and the intervening era of atmospheric nuclear weapons testing. The credibili...

Public health after a nuclear disaster: beyond radiation risks Claire Leppold, Tetsuya Tanimoto & Masaharu Tsubokura a Department of Research, Minamisoma Municipal General Hospital, Minamisoma, Fukushima, 975-0033, Japan. b Department of Internal Medicine, Jyoban Hospital of Tokiwa Foundation, Iwaki, Fukushima, Japan. c Department of Radiation Protection, Minamisoma Municipal General Hospital, ...

Chunyu Zeng, Hironobu Sanada, Hidetsuna Watanabe, Gilbert M. Eisner, Robin A. Felder, and Pedro A. Jose Department of Cardiology, Daping Hospital, Third Military Medical University, Chongqing, Peoples Republic of China; Futaba Kosei Hospital, Fukushima, Japan; Health Care Center, Fukushima University, Fukushima, Japan; Department of Medicine, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, Di...