title: Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident: facts, environmental contamination, possible biological effects, and countermeasures.
abstract: On March 11, 2011, an earthquake led to major problems at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. A 14-m high tsunami triggered by the earthquake disabled all AC power to Units 1, 2, and 3 of the Power Plant, and carried off fuel tanks for emergency diesel generators. Despite many efforts, cooling systems did not work and hydrogen explosions damaged the facilities, releasing a large amount of radioactive material into the environment. In this review, we describe the environmental impact of the nuclear accident, and the fundamental biological effects, acute and late, of the radiation. Possible medical countermeasures to radiation exposure are also discussed.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Nihon Pharmaceutical University, 10281 Komuro, Ina-machi, Kitaadachi-gun, Saitama 362-0806, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazunori
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Anzai
authors.forename: Nobuhiko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ban
authors.forename: Toshihiko
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ozawa
authors.forename: Shinji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Tokonami