November 13, 2023  19th Dialog meeting was held in Namie Town

Since 2016, we have been conducting the dialog meetings to feedback our research results to local communities. The 19th meeting was held under the theme of “Report on Environmental Radioactivity Survey in Namie Town -Current Situation and Remaining Issues-” and was attended by 44 people from inside and outside of Fukushima Prefecture, including government officials and residents.

The purpose of this meeting was to present the results of radioactivity surveys conducted by IER and related organizations in Namie Town and surrounding municipalities in an easy-to-understand manner to government agencies, people involved in the surveys, and residents.

In addition to IER researchers, a researcher studying the dynamics and effects of radiocesium in forest ecosystems post-accident with a focus on forest hydrology, an expert conducting surveys and research on fish in rivers and lakes in Fukushima Prefecture, and an expert investigating radiocesium concentrations and internal radiation doses of crops for home consumption shared their research findings and outlined future initiatives. During the discussion session following the presentations, the experts provided their views in response to the comments and questions from the participants.

Participants commented, “I learned a lot about the circulation of Cs-137”, “I was able to know reassuring information about food”, “I learned about the radiation surveys being conducted toward lifting the difficult-to-return zone designation and look forward to the future results“, “I hope the research results will be reflected in future forest decontamination”, “I hope that research will not only understand the mechanism and current situation, but also provide useful directions for countermeasures and predictions”, and “I hope that the research institutes, administration, and local residents will work together to contribute to community development”.