Chapter 2 - Thirty Years After the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant Accident: Contribution From Japan—“Confirming the Increase of Childhood Thyroid Cancer”

Abstract

At the time of writing, 5 years had passed since the Tokyo Electric Power Company’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (NPP) accident, and 30 years since the Chernobyl NPP accident in April, 1986. The radiation exposure situations in Fukushima and Chernobyl are substantially different, but the Fukushima Health Management Survey has been launched to monitor the long-term health of residents in Fukushima prefecture soon after the NPP accident. One element of the survey, the thyroid ultrasound examination, is continuing to detect cases of thyroid cancer in children, adolescents, and young adults. As one of the experts deeply involved with this issue since a 1990 study on health impact of the Chernobyl NPP accident, I will focus on Japan’s contribution to the process which led to the international consensus about an increase of radiation-associated thyroid cancer around Chernobyl, with a goal of providing an appropriate interpretation of the findings of thyroid cancer through the mass screening in Fukushima. In particular, I will review and explain the sequence of events that led to the understanding of an increased risk of thyroid cancer from radiation exposure among children and adolescents.