Whole-body counter survey results 4 months after the Fukushima Daiichi NPP accident in Minamisoma City, Fukushima

Abstract

Using the first WBC unit installed in Fukushima Prefecture after the accident, the radiocesium body burdens of 566 high-risk residents of Minamisoma city were measured in July 2011 at the Minamisoma Municipal General Hospital. The analysis of the data was challenging because this chair-type WBC unit did not have sufficient shielding against background gamma rays, and methods had to be developed to reliably compensate for the body-attenuated background radiation. Fortunately, data for repeated tests of hospital staff members using both the chair-type and well-shielded FASTSCAN WBC units, installed in September 2011, were available, and could be used to check the validity of the analysis. The CEDs of all subjects, estimated under the assumption of acute inhalation in March 2011, were found to be less than 1 mSv.