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[Abstract]

437 nuclear power plants are in operation at present around the world to meet increasing energy demands. Unfortunately, five major nuclear accidents have occurred in the past--ie, at Kyshtym (Russia [then USSR], 1957), Windscale Piles (UK, 1957), Three Mile Island (USA, 1979), Chernobyl (Ukraine [then USSR], 1986), and Fukushima (Japan, 2011). The effects of these accidents on individuals and societies are diverse and enduring. Accumulated evidence about radiation health effects on atomic bomb survivors and other radiation-exposed people has formed the basis for national and international regulations about radiation protection. However, past experiences suggest that common issues were not necessarily physical health problems directly attributable to radiation exposure, but rather psychological and social effects. Additionally, evacuation and long-term displacement created severe health-care problems for the most vulnerable people, such as hospital inpatients and elderly people.

[Author information]

Hasegawa A1, Tanigawa K2, Ohtsuru A3, Yabe H4, Maeda M5, Shigemura J6, Ohira T7, Tominaga T8, Akashi M9, Hirohashi N10, Ishikawa T11, Kamiya K12, Shibuya K13, Yamashita S14, Chhem RK15.

1Department of Radiation Disaster Medicine, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan.

2Fukushima Global Medical Science Center, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan. Electronic address: tanigawa@fmu.ac.jp.

3Department of Radiation Health Management, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan.

4Department of Neuropsychiatry, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan.

5Department of Disaster Psychiatry, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan.

6Department of Psychiatry, National Defense Medical College, Tokorozawa, Japan.

7Department of Epidemiology, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan.

8Department of Radiation Emergency Medical Assistance Team Medical Section, Chiba, Japan.

9National Institute of Radiological Sciences, Chiba, Japan.

10Department of Emergency and Critical Care Medicine, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan.

11Department of Radiation Physics and Chemistry, Fukushima Medical University, Fukushima, Japan.

12Department of Experimental Oncology, Research Institute for Radiation Biology and Medicine, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan.

13Department of Global Health Policy, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan.

14Department of Radiation Medical Sciences, Atomic Bomb Disease Institute, Nagasaki University, Nagasaki, Japan.

15Cambodia Development Resource Institute, Phnom Penh, Cambodia.