Marking anniversary of Fukushima HPS publishes special paper on nuclear radiation

Marking the anniversary of the March 2011 Japan tsunami and resulting damage to the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facility, the Health Physics Society (HPS) has published Radiation and Risk: Expert Perspectives online (http://www.hps.org/documents/radiation_and_risk.pdf), the first of a series of special publications on radiation and its effects on human and environmental health.

The paper, authored by leading scientists in the fields of engineering, medicine, health physics, environmental health and public safety, is a compilation of research perspectives on topics including natural radiation, medical radiation application, effects of radiation on the environment, safety controls of nuclear energy production, risk communication and the regulatory implications of radiation safety. Notable perspectives include:

• Robert Peter Gale, MD, PhD, DSc, FACP of Imperial College, Section of Haematology, Department of Medicine and F. Owen Hoffman, PhD of SENES Oak Ridge, Inc., Center for Risk Analysis;
• Joxel Garcia, MD, MBA of the International Healthcare Solutions group, past U.S. Secretary for Health and U.S. Representative to the World Health Organization Executive Board;
• Richard Vetter, PhD, CHP of the Mayo Clinic;
• F. Ward Whicker of the Department of Environmental and Radiological Health Sciences at Colorado State University;
• Kathryn Higley of Oregon State University's Department of Nuclear Engineering and Radiation Health Physics;
• Dr. Robert Emery of the University of Texas, School of Public Health;
• Louis Wagner, PhD of the Department of Diagnostic and Interventional Imaging at the University of Texas-Houston Medical School;
• Bernard Cohen of the University of Pittsburgh, Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences, Department of Physics and Astronomy; and
• Howard Dickson, President of Dickson Consulting, LLC and Web Operations editor-in-chief of the Health Physics Society.

"The contributors to this piece present objective, science-based information, helping us navigate through some of the most important and timely issues in radiation and nuclear energy," said Armin Ansari, President of the Health Physics Society. "Their research includes first-hand experience with the three most-well-known nuclear reactor accidents in history – Fukushima, Chernobyl and the 1979 Three Mile Island accident – informing their work and providing insights unseen anywhere else."

This compilation of research papers is a result of a panel discussion sponsored by HPS at the National Press Club in Washington, DC on March 1, 2012, where a group of radiation scientists recognized the one-year anniversary of Fukushima and discussed radiation risks with the general public.

HPS Web Operations have published Radiation and Risk: Expert Perspectives in hopes that these perspectives provide a meaningful and understandable explanation of radiation risk to human health and well-being.

Provided by Health Physics Society