FUKUSHIMAいのちの最前線
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第4章患者救済に奔走した活動記録〈論文・研究発表〉FUKUSHIMA いのちの最前線507K. E. NOLLETindoors if safe evacuation is not possible. This recommendation was attributed to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and said to be in accord with directives that would be issued for a comparable event in the United States. Other governments issued similar advice. This author, an American citizen employed by Fukushima Medical University since January 2008, subscribes to an advisory service of the United States Embassy in Tokyo. The embassy made a health and welfare inquiry by telephone on March 16, and sent an email with evacuation advice on March 17. Subsequent emails in March included information about travel assistance available to US citizens and their dependents. Through September 18, 2011, the United States Embassy in Tokyo continued to advise, “out of an abundance of caution," that citizens living within 80 km of Fukushima Daiichi “evacuate or shelter in place." The March 17 recommendation was modified on May 16 to say that the risk of travel through the area by bullet train or expressway was low. A July 19 travel alert added that it was deemed a low risk to travel to, from, and through Sendai Airport. Fully aware of official US recommenda­tions, this author continued working at Fukushima Medical University and living about 2 km away. No coercion was involved; in fact, neighbors and colleagues were rather surprised by what seemed to be an act of defiance against the US government by one of its citizens. However, my advice to others, including an American journalist and a Congolese graduate student, was for them to heed the advice of their respective governments, both of which recommended being outside of Japan's post-3.11 risk areas. It is the opinion of this author that one motivation for the US Embassy's evacuation advice and assistance was to prevent American citizens from burdening Japan, and cordial Japanese hosts, where infrastructure was damaged and resources were limited. Americans with emergency response, medical, and/or nuclear safety expertise have, along with other nationals, freely traveled and worked in Japan's disaster-affected areas. 2. American Hibakusha In the early 1970s, a guest speaker visited Hibbing High School in the City of Hibbing, capital of St. Louis County in the State of Minnesota. Students assembled in the Hibbing High School Auditorium to learn about nuclear power and radiation. The guest speaker sought a volunteer. From those in the audience who raised their hands, he invited a high school girl onto the stage and asked her to assist with some task. After the task, the speaker offered her a drink of cola as a small reward. The student politely accepted. A conversation along the following lines ensued :Speaker : “Refreshing?"Student : “Yes."Speaker : “Suppose I said your cola was radioactive?"Student : [Surprised silence.]Speaker : “Watch." The speaker turned on a Geiger counter and started to wand our volunteer. As the detector approached her throat, the occasional clicks became much more frequent. This got everyone's attention.Speaker : “No, I did not give you radio­active cola. Radioactive substances are tightly regulated, and I am not a medical doctor. Your thyroid gland, at the front of your throat, naturally attracts iodine, some of which is radioactive." To the best of my recollection, the speaker gave no particular details about the extent to which radioactive iodine might be found in nature. However, St. Louis County was downwind of an unnatural source of radioactive iodine: the Nevada Test Site, where 100 of America's 210 atmospheric tests of

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