The 8th Annual Symposium

The IER holds an annual symposium every year to report research results to the general public and experts and to exchange opinions. The 8th annual symposium was held on February 28 and March 1, 2022, with the theme “Fukushima Post-Accidental Contamination ~Consequences and long-term trends~”. Although the event was originally planned to be held as a hybrid event on-site and online, it changed to an online event due to the spread of infections of COVID-19. We received a lot of registration for participation and a total of approximately 220 people joined the oral presentation for experts and the symposium for the general public.

Time	Program・Presentation Title	Speaker	Affiliation
13:00-13:05	Opening Remarks	NANBA Kenji	Director, IER Professor / Faculty of Symbiotic Systems Science
13:05-13:35	Long term behavior of 137Cs and tritium derived from atmospheric nuclear weapons tests and other sources in the North Pacific and the Japan Sea since the 1960s and future	AOYAMA Michio	Center for Research in Isotopes and Environmental Dynamics, University of Tsukuba Visiting Professor,IER
13:35-14:05	Return of the Fukushima-derived radiocesium along with the anticlockwise subarctic gyre current in the North Pacific Ocean	KUMAMOTO Yuichiro	Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology
14:05-14:35	Comparison of cesium-bearing microparticles from marine and terrestrial sources	MIURA Hikaru	Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry
14:35-14:45	Break
14:45-15:15	A comparative study of riverine 137Cs dynamics during high-flow events at three contaminated river catchments in Fukushima	WAKIYAMA Yoshifumi	Associate Professor, IER
15:15-15:45	Long-term trends in radiocesium dynamics in Fukushima forests	Vasyl YOSCHENKO	Professor, IER
15:45-16:15	Characteristics of immobile radiocesium-bearing particles in soils	YAMAGUCHI Noriko	Institute for Agro-Environmental Sciences, National Agriculture and Food Research Organization
16:15-16:25	Break
16:25-16:50	Estimation of rooting depth of 137Cs uptake by plants	NGUYEN Phuong Thoa	Graduate School of Symbiotic Systems Science and Technology, Fukushima University
16:50-17:20	Introgression of invasive pig genes into wild boar following the Fukushima events in 2011	Donovan ANDERSON	Center for Research in Isotopes and Environmental Dynamics, University of Tsukuba
17:20-17:35	Discussion
17:35-17:40	Closing Remarks	TAKAMURA Noboru	Vice Director, IER Professor, Nagasaki University

Time	Program・Presentation Title	Speaker	Affiliation
13:00-13:05	Opening Remarks	NANBA Kenji	Director, IER Professor, Faculty of Symbiotic Systems Science
13:10-13:35	Findings and issues in environmental radioactivity research
13:35-14:05	Approaches to overcome the challenges in safe processing of Fukushima-derived waste	Ismail RAHMAN	Associate Professor, IER
14:05-14:15	Break
14:15-14:45	Tritium in the vicinity of Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant and the coastal region around Japan	TAKATA Hyoe	Project Associate Professor, IER
14:45-15:15	Predictions of long term trends in the Fukushima post accidental river water contamination	Mark ZHELEZNYAK	Project Professor, IER
15:15-15:25	Break
15:25-15:55	Radiation effects on wildlife inhabiting difficult to return zones	ISHINIWA Hiroko	Project Assistant Professor, IER
15:55-16:25	Activity concentrations of radiocaesium and 129I in agricultural crops, and internal radiation doses from ingestion	TSUKADA Hirofumi	Professor, IER
16:25-16:55	Discussion	Facilitator:WADA Toshihiro	Associate Professor, IER
16:55-17:00	Closing Remarks	Alexei KONOPLEV	Vice Director / Project Professor, IER

In the symposium for the general public, six IER professors gave presentations about their findings acquired in the research activities following the nuclear accident in 2011. Participants asked questions such as “What do you think that the number of analysis samples is limited?” and “Aren’t there any effects of the accident-derived radionuclides on wild animals now?” Many questions about tritium given by online participants suggested that people are very interested in the discharge of the ALPS treated water from Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. At last of the symposium, all six presenters shared their views on issues that need to be addressed.

The poster presentation was held on the special website of the symposium. Registered participants can view and listen to 32 posters presentations with audio commentaries until March 31, 2022. We hope we hold this event on-site next year so that participants can directly exchange opinions in person with each other.

Thank you very much for your participation in the annual symposium!