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Updated: May 15, 2026
09:18
Laser-heating and Radiance Spectrometry for the Study of Nuclear Materials in Conditions Simulating a Nuclear Power Plant Accident
Published on: December 14, 2017
Evacuation criteria after a nuclear accident: a personal perspective
1Mallinckrodt Professor of Physics (emeritus), Harvard University.
Dose-Response : a Publication of International Hormesis Society
|January 11, 2013
Summary
The Fukushima disaster showed that the risks of evacuation can outweigh radiation exposure risks. This highlights the need for revised radiation protection guidelines during accidents.
Area of Science:
- Radiation safety
- Risk assessment
- Nuclear accidents
Background:
- Decisions involving radiation require risk-risk or risk-benefit analysis.
- The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster presented a complex risk assessment scenario.
Purpose of the Study:
- To argue that the risks of alternate actions during the Fukushima crisis were underestimated.
- To suggest revisions to radiation protection guidelines for accident situations.
Main Methods:
- Comparative risk analysis of radiation exposure versus evacuation.
- Evaluation of decision-making under acute stress during a nuclear accident.
Main Results:
- The risks associated with unnecessary evacuation during the Fukushima crisis likely exceeded the hypothetical risks of radiation-induced cancers from remaining.
- Decision-makers failed to fully realize this risk imbalance in the immediate aftermath.
Conclusions:
- The assumption of minimal risk from alternate actions in radiation accidents is flawed.
- There is a critical need to update global guidelines for radiation protection during nuclear accidents to account for the risks of evacuation.
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