On March 11, 2011, the citizens of Fukushima, Japan experienced a nuclear accident as a result of a tsunami and and earthquake on the same day. To help spread awareness about the status of the prefecture, Fukushima University founded the Fukushima Ambassadors Program, bringing university students all over the world to Fukushima to learn about the the implications of the accident.
Among this year’s participants, Colorado State University (CSU) sent the largest number of international students to Fukushima. “The purpose of the program is to provide students with hands-on learning opportunities that focus on physical, financial, and social consequences of the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear accident,” explained Dr. Thomas Johnson, the coordinator for the program at CSU and an associate professor of environmental and radiological health sciences.
The students were able to understand the effects of the accident in a way that they could not learn in a classroom. Visiting a temporary housing facility, they saw firsthand how many people in Fukushima were still displaced and the toll on mental health as a result of the evacuation; they learned that suicide rates among those who were evacuated or in temporary housing were high. The program also helped clear up misconceptions of the aftermath of the disaster. Previously an agricultural center known for its fruit, Fukushima now struggles to bring its economy back to form as people avoid its products because of the stigma attached to its name. However, contamination levels are relatively low in many areas: some of the background levels of radiation measured by students in Fukushima were either lower or comparable to those in Colorado, according to one of the students in the program.
With the profound impact such disasters have on society and people’s mental health, safety precautions and prevention are paramount. In the case of an accident, having the right tools is essential. Using our patented multi-voltage threshold (MVT) algorithm, X-Z LAB provides radiation detection with excellent performance and stability. Workers and responders in potentially hazardous environments can rely on RadTarge II | Electronic Personal Dosimeter to keep them safe. Real-time direct reading, fast response time, and three alert options allow users to always be aware of their exposure with a glance of the screen.