The 7th Annual Symposium

The IER holds an annual symposium in March every year to report the research results to the general public and experts and to exchange opinions. The 7th Annual Symposium was held online for the first time in consideration of the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Symposium consisted of two parts, a poster session and an oral symposium session, and was attended by about 150 people.

The poster session was conducted by streaming of the presenters’ short talk videos online and posting the presentation materials on the cloud service. A total of 45 presentations on environmental radioactivity were made not only by the IER researchers but also by researchers from other universities and research institutes, and active discussions took place online.

The symposium was held on the theme of “Fukushima Environment from Chornobyl Perspective”, and six researchers gave lectures: Prof. Kenji Nanba (IER Director), Prof. Noboru Takamura (IER vice director/Professor of Nagasaki University), Project Prof. Alexei Konoplev (IER vice director), Prof. Vasyl Yoschenko (IER), Project Assistant Prof. Yasunori Igarashi (IER), and Project Associate Prof. Hyoe Takata (IER).

The presentations included a comparison of studies on dynamics of environmental radioactivity and health effects after the Fukushima and Chornobyl nuclear accidents, and an overview of the “SATREPS Chornobyl Project”, a joint research project conducted by the IER with Ukrainian research partners, and the research results to date.
In the general discussion that followed the lectures, the speakers exchanged views about what the current situation in Chornobyl suggests for the future prospect of Fukushima.

We would like to thank all the researchers and the general public from various places in Japan and abroad for their participation in this symposium and for their valuable feedback on our research and this event. Taking the feedback we received into consideration, the IER will continue to conduct further research activities and future events.

Program: Symposium “Fukushima Environment from Chornobyl Perspective”

13:00-13:05	Opening remarks	Hiroki Miura （President, Fukushima University）
13:05-13:10	Overview	Kenji Nanba （IER Director/ Professor)
13:10-13:35	Research on environmental radioactivity by the collaboration between Fukushima and Chornobyl researchers
13:35-14:00	Childhood thyroid cancer around Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant: The differences with Fukushima	Noboru Takamura （IER Vice Director / Professor, Nagasaki University)
14:00-14:35	Fukushima and Chernobyl: similarities and differences in behaviour of radiocesium in soil-water environment	Alexei Konoplev (IER Vice Director / Project Professor)
14:35-14:45	Break
14:45-15:20	Chernobyl and Fukushima forests: impacts and dynamics of radioactive contamination	Vasyl Yoschenko （IER Professor)
15:20-15:40	Dynamics of radionuclides throughout the river network in Chernobyl and Fukushima	Yasunori Igarashi （IER Project Assistant Professor)
15:40-16:00	Temporal trends of radio-cesium concentration in the marine environment after the Chernobyl and Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident	Hyoe Takata （IER Project Associate Professor）
16:00-16:25	General discussion	Facilitator: Toshihiro Wada （IER Associate Professor)
16:25-16:30	Closing remarks	Alexei Konoplev (IER Vice Director / Project Professor)

Thank you to everyone who attended our 7th Annual Symposium.