UNSCEAR 2013 Report (1/3): Purpose of the Report [Reference]

The UNSCEAR 2013 Report “Volume I, Scientific Annex A: Levels and Effects of Radiation Exposure due to the Nuclear Accident after the 2011 Great East-Japan Earthquake and Tsunami” was prepared for the following three purposes as shown above.

As stated in the Introduction of the Report, at its fifty-eighth meeting (in May 2011), the UNSCEAR decided to carry out, once sufficient information was available, an assessment of the levels of exposure and radiation risks attributable to the nuclear power plant accident following the great east-Japan earthquake and tsunami, and published the Report in April 2014.

The Report is based on prefectural data and government organizations' data released in Japan up to September 2012, and other data and documents provided by UN member countries other than Japan and by international organizations such as the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the WHO. Additionally, new important information obtained by the end of 2013 was also taken into consideration to the extent possible.

The outline of the assessment of exposure doses in the UNSCEAR 2013 Report is as follows.

• The assessment was based on measurement data as far as possible.
• Doses that the public received for the first one year after the accident were assessed.
• The assessment targeted 20-year-old adults, 10-year-old children and 1-year-old infants
• Projections were also made of doses to be received over the first 10 years and up to age 80 years.
• Models were used, with realistic assumptions, to provide an objective evaluation of the situation.
• Protective actions taken during the first year were considered and the doses averted by them were estimated.

[Relevant parts in the Report]

• UNSCEAR 2013 Report (prepared based on paragraph 8 on page 27, paragraphs 3 to 4 on pages 25 to 26, and paragraph 12 on page 27, Scientific Annex A)

• Included in this reference material on March 31, 2015
• Updated on March 31, 2023