Summary of the Advisory Board’s Evaluation for FY2020

 Advisory Board Members:
Prof. Brenda Howard (UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology)
Prof. Sergey Fesenko (Russian Academy of Sciences, Russian Institute of Radiology and Agroecology)
Prof. Wolfgang Raskob (Karlsruhe Institute of Technology)
Dr. Satoshi Yoshida (National Institutes for Quantum and Radiological Science and Technology)
 Annual Symposium: March 18, 2021
 Advisory Board meeting: March 24, 2021 Venue: Online
Agenda: 1. Annual Symposium FY2020
2. Activity Report FY2020 (Evaluation period: April 1, 2020 - March 31, 2021)
3. Activity Report FY2019*(Evaluation period: April 1, 2019 - March 31, 2020)(*The agenda for the FY2019 meeting, which was cancelled due to COVID-19, were also discussed.) Received common statement and written comments from each member after the meeting

Minutes: Major points raised by the Advisory Board (ADB) and proposed response by IER
1. Annual Symposium FY2020
ADB ：I have the impression that the contents have been enriched and improved. In particular, I was very
impressed by Deputy Director Takamura's research, which truly connects science and people. This is oneof the strengths of the IER.
ADB：The activities (objectives) should be clearly presented/stated and easy to understand for the part of
the audience who are not scientists, specifying on the objectives and usefulness of the research activities.
For example, "What IER can do where (in the difficult-to-return areas / forests / agriculture), and how IER
can help people.” Presentation in a Q&A format could be an option to make it easier for people tounderstand.
→ Based on a previous suggestion from the ADB, the symposium FY2020 again consisted of a poster
session for experts and a symposium for the general public. We would like to continue this as it isconsidered to be an effective structure. The question asked by Dr. Yoshida of ADB during the general
discussion made it easy for the general public to understand the major differences in environmental
radioactivity between Fukushima and Chernobyl. We would like to take the advice into account such as
paying attention to people's interest, clarifying the objectives, and considering the presentation form in
the future annual symposia.
2. Activity Report and general activities FY2020(a) Activity ReportADB：It is necessary to reconsider the descriptions in the annual report to be reviewed by the ADB, suchas contents that have not been updated or changed in a fiscal year or items that are disclosed on websites,etc. Human resources, for example, it is sufficient to include information on retirees and new hires. Pleasefocus on what is important (progress/change).
→ We will strive to improve the contents and descriptions so that new events of the year can be easily
understood.

(b) Research Activities
ADB：Advice and suggestions on individual studies (biological dosimetry, omics technologies,
bioavailability, rationale for 129I studies, transition models during forest fires, dose models, machinelearning approaches).
→ The relevant researchers will include additional explanations in the activity report FY2020.
ADB：What is the next stage of the SATREPS project? As it is a valuable research activity, I expect more
efforts to be made to continue it.
→ We are working on the proposal for the next stage of our project. We will make possible effort toensure continuous research.
ADB：Although the number of research topics/presentations is important, but it is also important toenrich and develop the content and quality of the topics from the perspective of "e.g. 5 years from now".
It is recommended to clarify plans and goals based on clear reasons (Clear why) for conducting the research(i.e. reasons that can justify the research objectives). Modeling of conceptions (objectives and concepts)
and vision papers play an important role for this.
→ We will work on formulating a practical vision paper to set clear mid- to long-term goals.
(c) Management and Education
We received continuous advice from the previous year on safety management and risk assessment
measures, creation of performance indicators, quality control (QA/QC) measures, and strengthening of thestudent acceptance system (scholarships, etc.). We started working on these improvements.
(Please refer to “FY2019 Evaluations and Responses” FY2019 Evaluations and Responses )Comments from Advisory Board in writing
Common statement
IER research focuses on six topic areas, namely, "Rivers and Lakes", "Oceans", "Ecosystems", "Speciation
Radiochemistry", "Measurements and Analyses", and "Modeling". While individual research is consistently
outstanding, there is little evidence of integrated activities or outcomes. Interaction between monitoring andresearch activities with modelling can be intensified and is likely to be mutually beneficial. Furthermore,
duplication of work in individual projects should be avoided by setting up transversal work activities.
The SATREPS project, even if suffering from COVID-19, is important for understanding differences andsimilarities in remediation following the two major nuclear accidents Chernobyl and Fukushima. As the projectends in March 2022 we consider it important to perform the necessary steps to ensure that the activity cancontinue in a second phase.
International cooperation is important to make the research visible to others. In this respect, IER could highlight
more effectively its contribution to international initiatives such as IAEA and UNSCEAR reports which emergedin the framework of activities related to the tenth anniversary of the FDNPP accident.
The start of a doctoral program in 2020 can be seen as an important step towards the development of a centre
for human resources that can underpin the continuation of such research activities.
Dissemination and two-way communication to the research community and lay people has been effectively
promoted by IER. It is strongly recommended to continue or even expand such activities, in particularpresenting research results to assist efforts to reestablish occupation of the difficult to return area. The
practical aspects of the research is of high importance for local citizens to enable them to make informed
decisions on their future plans.
The annual report contains much valuable information. However greater clarity and visibility of theachievements of the reporting year would be achieved if some of the information (also available on the website) was not included each year. The report might then focus on the achievements and possible applicationsof the research. A section on the current and future research objectives might complement the report. Further
information might be provided via links to sections of the IER web page.
As discussed at the Advisory Board meeting this March, the development of a vision paper would be beneficial.
Such a paper might be one of the possible tools to shape the development of the institute and provides anunderlying rational for particular research priorities.

Prof. Brenda Howard
IER are to be commended for continuing to have an annual meeting made available to scientists and the publicfor this financial year. There was some focus on the SATREP project with interesting results. The continued goal
to share research achievements with both local people (via talks) and experts (including posters) iscommendable, given covid-related constraints.

IER provides much information on the web site and during the annual meetings which is available in both
Japanese and English. This must involve considerable efforts and resources and is much appreciated.
The annual report contains much general information that has been given in previous annual reports and is arather long document. Greater clarity and visibility of the achievements of the reporting year would be gained
if some of the information was not repeated each year. Such information can could be readily accessed on theweb site. The annual report could only focus on changes to the previous year. As an information source it isoften true that “less is more” for such reports and allows the reader to ingest the main messages moreeffectively.
IER could highlight more effectively its contribution to international initiatives on the tenth anniversary of theFDNPP accident such as the recent IAEA tecdoc 1927 and the UNSCEAR report which reviewed some iER
outputs. Also, IER could consider in fy 2021-2022 whether there was any scientific issues raised in these
documents that IER felt it could contribute to addressing, such as the effect on non human biota and scientificwork to assist efforts to reestablish occupation of the difficult to return area.
The research activities in all areas continue to be impressive and have clearly not been too detrimentallyaffected by the covid pandemic.

Prof. Sergey Fesenko
The reviewer had a chance to comment the performance reviews of the IER during short time and this gave an
opportunity to see more precisely the annual progress in the developments provided in the years 2020-2021.
In 2020-2021, many constraints were implemented both in Japan and many other countries. Therefore, thenetwork of the international collaboration of the IER was seriously affected. In particular, the joint research
programme of the SATREPS project was needed to be revised as well as reconsider plans of the field missionsof external researchers.
As earlier, the IER research included six projects, namely, "Rivers and Lakes", "Oceans", "Ecosystems","Speciation Radiochemistry", "Measurements and Analyses", and "Modeling". In the reviewed period, the IER
projects provided many new data and developments were presented. The cooperation research among
projects was increased and the projects were better structured compared to that of in recent years. In manycases, key findings were presented in the publications in the scientific journal. The institute published in 58
articles in the scientific journals delivered by more than 60 presentations and lectures at the conferences andseminars. This option allows better accessing the details of the studies presented in the IER annual report.
The year 2021 will remain in the history of the Institute as the year of a first release of the students whoobtained a Master's Degree in Science and Engineering under supervision of the IER. The PhD research wasorganized in the frame of the IER programme and contributed to the 2020-2021 years findings. Thisemphasizes a high importance and efficiency of the decision to establish the Environmental Radioactivity
Science Master’s Program in the Graduate School of Symbiotic Systems Science and Technology of FukushimaUniversity.

Despite of the great success in the IER performance there are some options for further improvements. The
coordination among research groups could be improved. There are still some duplications between research
objectives and results achieved by the different projects. Thus, study on radionuclide transfer in the revers are
considered in three Projects: Ocean, Rivers and Lakes and Ecosystems. It would be desirable to reconsider how
the projects complement each other and to increase synergies in the research. The report largely provides
information on what was done and, sometimes, how it was done. It would be desirable to highlight key findings
from the research and practical importance of the data achieved for management on affected areas. The
practicability of the research and potential applications of the results achieved could be better presented. It isalso recommended to make the research objectives and goals be related to the management options tomitigate consequences of the Fukushima Daiichi accident.

Prof. Wolfgang Raskob
As for last year’s meeting of the Advisory Board, physical participation in the Annual Symposium of the IER was
not possible and our Board meeting took place via the Internet. Nevertheless, colleagues from IER provided
all information for the evaluation in time. Let us hope that the meeting next year will be performed again inperson.
The general direction of work continues with six research areas performing excellent research in the areas
Oceans, Rivers and Lakes, Ecosystems, Speciation Radioactivity, Measurement and Analysis and Modelling.
This outstanding research was disseminated via national and international journal papers, presentations andtalks to local population and I want to highlight again the importance of dissemination activities at all levels.
Five out of the six research areas focus on descriptive research performing mainly experimental work activities
at a very high level. One area is devoted to modelling. It is recommended to better combine both, modellingand experiments, to get synergies in understanding the processes and possible solutions for pressing questions
such as how to support the return process of the evacuated people. In general, the development of conceptualmodels also for research areas with focus on experimental work is recommended to better define/understandresearch needs.
The STREPS project, even if suffering from COVID-19, is important for understanding differences andsimilarities in remediation following the two major nuclear accidents Chernobyl and Fukushima. Thisunderstanding will not only help Ukraine, but also Japan to direct research into still open questions. Therefore
it is important to continue that activity in a second phase.
Quality management procedures are of importance for any experimental work and in particular in relation tothe ERAN database. In this respect developing of basic principle is encouraged.
As discussed at the Advisory Board meeting this March, the development of a vision paper would be very muchacknowledged. Such a paper might shape the development of the institute and provides the rational forparticular research needs.
A final point is related to national and international cooperation. IER is very much connected nationally andinternationally and these links are very important for dissemination and attracting excellent researchers. Asthe consequences of the Fukushima disaster are long-lasting, attracting young scientists and promoting young
careers is a goal that is important for sustainability of IER.

Dr. Satoshi Yoshida
The IER has been steadily conducting research and producing scientific results, centering on the long-term
behavior of radionuclides, and continues to actively provide feedback to the residents of Fukushima and workon human capacity building.
In particular, the establishment of the doctoral program in April 2021, following the start of master's program,is the appraisable result of the Institute's efforts over many years and is expected to become the core of humanresource development in this field in the future.
The ERAN project is expected not only to function as a multi-institutional collaborative research network in thefield of environmental radioactivity, but also to become a place for human resource development. It iscommendable that many research themes have been conducted with IER as the host institution. It is also
expected that the network will develop into a foundation for the career path of young researchers in the future.
SATREPS has contributed to solve the ongoing long-term environmental problems in Chernobyl, and at thesame time, it has provided a large number of scientific findings that can be applied to the environment ofFukushima, as well as a chance for international experience for young researchers. As the project is scheduled
to be completed in March 2022, it is expected that the results achieved so far will be published as scientificreports etc., and that efforts will be made to develop the next phase of the project. Since this is a valuable
project connecting two regions affected by major nuclear accidents, the continuation of the project is highly
desirable not only for its academic and social contributions but also for human resource development.
Each of the individual studies has produced steady results. On the other hand, the common goal of the entire
institute is becoming difficult to see. Individual data might be utilized by model project for improving theaccuracy of the model, and/or might be systematically utilized in outreach activities (risk communication) forresidents.