Fukushima and the Future of Radiation Research

Abstract

There are now a good deal of data, opinions and speculation regarding the multiple disaster incident in Japan that began March 11, 2011 (1–7). Worldwide attention has focused on the risks, benefits and consequences of potential exposure to and uses for radiation. This article presents personal observations from participation in the response to this incident and projections as to how this major radiological incident might impact the future of the Radiation Research Society, and the important positive contributions radiation sciences can make to society in general. This watershed incident has and will continue to have a profound impact on nuclear energy utilization and cancer care, and demonstrates the importance of sound scientific underpinnings for decisions regarding uses and risks of radiation. This paper emphasizes the societal benefit from broad based radiation research. This perspective on future directions for radiation research and biomedical research in general is that of a physician-scientist, radiation/medical oncologist in academia (Stanford 1975–1985 and Harvard 1985–1999) and government [National Cancer Institute (NCI) since 1999 and also Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) since 2004]. The perspective of the Fukushima experience is from 8 years as a subject matter expert within the all-hazard planning team at ASPR, including a 3-week deployment in the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo during the crisis. My opinion of the spectrum of opportunities for the Radiation Research Society are from: (a) having been active in outreach to the medically underserved both locally and internationally since I graduated from Yale Medical School including the New Haven riots of the late 1960s, (b) working with the National Coalition for Cancer Survivorship since the early 1990s (8), (c) having seen the enormous change in health care and in federally supported research programs over periods of substantial growth over the 1980s and 1990s, and (d) experiencing as a laboratory researcher and as an NCI program leader regarding the pushback against rising health care costs and the effects of flat investment in biomedical research that has been front-and-center for the last 10 years. Since this is a personal perspective and not a review paper, only a limited number of representative references from the literature are provided. Two quotations attributable to Yogi Berra, the former New York Yankee catcher (9) were used to frame this presentation at the 2012 Radiation Research Society meeting that are as true as they are humorous: