June 28, 2022 We held an IER Special Seminar online.＜Dr. WATANABE＞

On June 28, the lecture on the subject “Effects of Radiation Exposure” by Dr. Yoshito Watanabe was attended by five IER graduate school students, and several IER members. In the introduction, Dr. Watanabe presented the basic concepts of the system of radiation protection of the Environment, such as RAPs (Reference Animals and Plants) and DCRL (Derived Consideration Reference Levels), and explained about their practical application in ERICA Tool*. Dr. Watanabe then assessed the risk of radiation by comparing the estimated dose rates with DCRL to RAPs in terrestrial and marine ecosystems in Okuma during different periods after the Fukushima accidents. The topics widely ranged from a comprehensive review of publications revealing radiation effects on wild animals and plants observed after the Fukushima accident, the effects of the Chornobyl nuclear accident on wildlife, problems in interpreting differences in radiation effects in the field and laboratory, progress in research on morphogenesis in Japanese fir, and to the new dosimetric model of fir tree developed by Dr. Watanabe. The participants discussed the temporal patterns in formation of the morphological abnormalities in fir trees and principal difference between the new dosimetric model and the dosimetric approach used in ERICA Tool*.

*ERICA Tool: A computer software developed in the EU research project ERICA (2004-2007) that calculates dose rates and makes risk assessments by entering radioactivity concentrations. Click here to read the June 21 seminar article.