title: Evaluation of dose from external irradiation for individuals living in areas affected by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant accident.
abstract: In order to effectively and appropriately manage external radiation doses in the affected areas of Fukushima, it is important to identify when, where and how much exposure occurred. It is also necessary to quantitatively measure external exposure and air dose rates for different activity patterns in individuals living and working in Japanese-style buildings. The authors used a new personal dosemeter (D-shuttle) along with a global positioning system and geographical information system to relate personal dose rate with activity patterns and air dose rate. Hourly individual doses obtained by D-shuttle can provide an effective communication tool for those who want to identify when and how much exposure occurs. Personal monitoring of 26 volunteers showed that personal doses obtained from D-shuttle were ∼30% of cumulative air dose estimated by data from the airborne monitoring survey. This analysis showed that, for most study volunteers, the exposure from staying at home represented about half of the total cumulative dose. This suggests that even though the peak exposure doses may be observed outside of working hours, to develop appropriate countermeasures for external dose reduction, it is thus important to identify the contributions of individuals' time-activities. This study provides a valuable basis for developing a realistic and pragmatic method to estimate external doses of individuals in Fukushima.
authors: Research Institute of Science for Safety and Sustainability (RISS), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 16-1 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8569, Japan w-naito@aist.go.jp.
authors: Wataru
authors: W
authors: Naito
authors: Research Institute of Science for Safety and Sustainability (RISS), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 16-1 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8569, Japan.
authors: Motoki
authors: M
authors: Uesaka
authors: Research Institute of Science for Safety and Sustainability (RISS), National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), 16-1 Onogawa, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305-8569, Japan.
authors: Chie
authors: C
authors: Yamada
authors: Fukushima Future Center for Regional Revitalization, Fukushima University, Fukushima 960-1296, Japan.
authors: Hideki
authors: H
authors: Ishii
mesh_terms: D000396:Air Pollutants, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis; D016902:Air Pollution, Indoor / Q000032:analysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D000398:Air Pollution, Radioactive / Q000032:analysis / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D001822:Body Burden; D062406:Fukushima Nuclear Accident; D006798:Housing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D014915:Whole-Body Counting / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*
chemical_list: D000396:Air Pollutants, Radioactive