IMPORTANCE OF PERSONAL DOSE EQUIVALENT EVALUATION IN FUKUSHIMA IN OVERCOMING SOCIAL PANIC

摘要

The relationship between the reported ambient dose equivalent (H~*(10)) and the individual dose rate recorded by medical staff in Fukushima City after the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant was evaluated, following a 9.0-mag-nitude earthquake that struck the east coast of Japan. Personal dose equivalent (H_p(10)) ranged from 0.08 to 1.63 μSv h~(-1) and H~*(10) ranged from 0.86 to 12.34 μSv h~(-1).H_p(10) from March to July 2011 were significantly lower than H~*(10). The relationships between these dose equivalents were moderately correlated. The regression equation was calculated as follows: H_p(10)=0.0696×H~*(10)+0.0538. The preliminary data of this study show that, in Fukushima, the individual dose is much lower than that determined H~*(10). It is important to evaluate H_p(10) in order to lessen the anxiety of the general population in Fukushima.