Abstract
Following the Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant accident, the Japanese government created two supplemental texts about radiation reflecting the accident for elementary, middle school, and high school students. These texts were made to explain radiation and consequently to obtain public consent for the continuation of the nuclear program. The present study aimed to evaluate the appropriateness of the content of the texts and to collect the basic data on the level of understanding necessary to improve radiation education. Lectures on radiology including nuclear energy and the Fukushima accident were given to 44 fourth-year dental students in 2013. The questionnaire was administered in 2014 when these students were in their sixth-year. The survey was also administered to 40 first-year students and 41 fourth-year students who hadn't any radiology lectures. Students rated their level of understanding of 50 phrases used in the texts on a four-point scale (understanding = 3, a little knowledge = 2, having heard = 1, no knowledge = 0). Questions on taking an advanced physics course in high school and means of learning about radiation in daily life were also asked. The level of understanding of phrases in the supplemental text for middle and high school students was significantly higher among sixth-year students (mean = 1.43) than among first-year (mean = 1.12) or fourth-year (mean = 0.93) students (p < 0.05). Overall, the level of understanding was low, with scores indicating that most students knew only a little. First-year students learning about radiation from television but four-year and six-year students learning about radiation from newspaper scored significantly higher (p < 0.05). It was concluded that radiation education should be improved by using visual material and preparing educators to teach the material for improving the public's understanding of radiation use—especially nuclear power generation because the phrases used in the supplementary texts are very difficult for students to understand.
Highlights
In East Japan, a large-scale earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 occurred on March 11, 2011
The first-year students had not received any lectures relating to radiation, the fourth-year students had not received a main lecture focusing on radiology in 2014, and the sixth-year students had finished the required course of lectures and practice on radiology
The phrase “harmful rumor” was the second most known phrase. This phrase often appeared in the social issues encountered by elementary and middle school students who evacuated from Fukushima to other prefectures after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident
Summary
In East Japan, a large-scale earthquake with a magnitude of 9.0 occurred on March 11, 2011. The tsunami hit Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima Prefecture, stopping all power supplies to the plant. Large amounts of radioactive materials were released from the plant into the environment (affecting the air, water, and soil) (Tominaga et al, 2014; UNSCEAR, 2013). Many people were obliged to evacuate to prevent radiation exposure. These people have been forced to live as refuges, even to this point, and they continue to have anxieties about their future lives and health (Matsuda et al, 2014)
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