著者

三浦 美和 林田 りか 高尾 秀明 小野 孝二 松田 尚樹

出版者

Japanese Society of Radiation Safety Management

雑誌

日本放射線安全管理学会誌 (ISSN:13471503)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.12, no.1, pp.46-53, 2013

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From October to December 2010, just before the radiological accident at the Tokyo Electric Power Company Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, 71 radiation professionals belonging to the radiation facilities in Japan were asked what they consider as a "safe" dose of radiation for themselves, their spouse, parents, children, brothers and friends. Although the "safe" dose varied widely from less than 1 mSv/y to higher than 100 mSv/y, the average dose was 35.6 mSv/y that was around the middle point between the exposure dose limits for annual average (20 mSv/y) and for any single year (50 mSv/y). Similar results were obtained from another surveys for the members of Japan Radioisotope Association (36.9 mSv/y) and for the Oita Prefectural Hospital (36.8 mSv/y). Among the family members and friends, the minimum average "safe" dose was 8.5 mSv/y for children, to whom 50% of responders claimed the "safe" dose less than 1 mSv. Gender, age and specialty of the responder also affected the "safe" dose. These findings suggest that the perception of radiation risk varies widely and that the legal exposure dose limit derived from the regulatory science may act as an anchor of safety even in radiation professionals. The different level of risk perception for different target groups in radiation professionals appears similar to those in non-professional whole population. The gap between these characteristics of real radiation professionals and the generally accepted picture of radiation professionals might take a part in a state of confusion after the radiological accident.