DATE / TIME:

2014•11•11    10:00 - 13:00

Location:

Tokyo

On 11 November 2014 the UNU Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS) and the UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) will co-organize the public seminar Monitoring Impacts and Communicating Health Risks after Fukushima. The event will explore challenges and lessons learned in the process of monitoring health impacts and communicating health risks after the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

The nuclear accident of March 2011 at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has had wide-reaching environmental, social and economic impacts. The health risks posed by the accident have been among the key concerns both in Japan and other countries, and are expected to remain the focus of public attention for many years to come. By their very nature, issues related to radiation are both relatively “unusual” and highly technical for the general public. Thus, how to effectively monitor health impacts and communicate associated health risks represent key questions that scientists, experts and practitioners are facing in the process of dealing with the legacy of the disaster.

The event will take the form of a panel discussion followed by an interactive session with the audience aiming to promote open discussion that incorporates perspectives from science, practitioners, civil society and the affected population.

Advanced registration (by 10 November) is required. Please click on the REGISTER above to access the registration page.

Programme

Moderator: Anna Mosneaga (Research Associate, UNU-IAS)

10:00–10:10 Opening Remarks

• Kazuhiko Takeuchi (Senior Vice-Rector, UNU)
• Malcolm Crick (Secretary, UNSCEAR)

10:10–11:40 Panel Discussion

• Wolfgang Weiss (Chair, UNSCEAR Fukushima Assessment Report)
• Stephen Solomon (Group Leader, UNSCEAR Fukushima Assessment Report)
• Sae Ochi (Director of Internal Medicine, Soma Central Hospital, Fukushima)
• Joe Moross (SAFECAST)
• Nanako Shimizu (Associate Professor, Utsunomiya University, Tochigi, Japan)

11:40–11:50 Coffee Break

11:50–12:50 Interactive Discussion

12:50–13:00 Closing Remarks

Reception

Following the seminar there will be a lunch reception.

•••

UNU-IAS is co-organizing this event as part of the Fukushima Global Communication Programme, a research initiative examining impacts of the Great East Japan Earthquake, tsunami and nuclear accident of 11 March 2011 on people and society, the challenges of the recovery process in Fukushima, and related issues of risk and information provision.