UNITED NATIONS SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE ON THE EFFECTS OF ATOMIC RADIATION

SECRETARIAT
JUNE 2018

Background information for journalists
UNSCEAR’s update assessment of the Fukushima-Daiichi accident
The United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR)
has agreed during it 66th session (11–14 June 2018) to update its UNSCEAR 2013 Report 1
and to begin working on a new report (working title “Levels and effects of radiation exposuredue to the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station: Implications ofinformation published since the 2013 UNSCEAR report”).
The Committee’s role to assess the levels and effects of the radiation exposure in the event of
a nuclear accident or radiological emergency and to disseminate findings to the United
Nations General Assembly, the scientific community and the public is recognized in the Joint
Radiation Emergency Management Plan of the International Organizations 2 . According tothis plan such an assessment may be indicated if an event occurs that involves numbers ofserious overexposures or widespread contamination of water, land, people or commodities oris of significant concern to the United Nations General Assembly or the public.
The Committee assessed radiation exposures of the public, workers and non-human biota that
resulted from the 2011 accident at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station and reported
its findings, including a discussion of the associated risks and effects, to the United Nations
General Assembly in October 2013. 3 and in a full UNSCEAR 2013 Report1 in April 2014.
The report set out the Committee’s assessment of the levels of exposure of defined groups ofthe general public in Japan, including those evacuated and different age groups, and ofworkers. On the basis of this assessment, the Committee concluded that health risks resulting
from the Fukushima accident were far lower than those for Chernobyl, due to thesubstantially lower doses received by the public and workers, and did not expect discernible
increased incidences of radiation-related health effects among those exposed. However, most1

UNSCEAR. Sources, Effects and Risks of Ionizing Radiation. Volume I: Report to the General Assemblyand Scientific Annex A. UNSCEAR 2013 Report. United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects ofAtomic Radiation. United Nations sales publication E.14.IX.1. United Nations, New York, 2014.
2IAEA. Joint Radiation Emergency Management Plan of the International Organizations. EPR-JPLAN 2013.
Emergency Preparedness and Response, International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna (2013)
3Official Records of the General Assembly, Sixty-eighth Session, Supplement No. 46 (A/68/46) with corrigendum.

UNITED NATIONS SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE ON THE EFFECTS OF ATOMIC RADIATION

SECRETARIAT
JUNE 2018of the scientific information used in the UNSCEAR 2013 Report was limited to thatpublished or disclosed by the end of October 2012. Subsequently a significant amount ofrelevant information has been published and new information will continue to become
available over coming years.
Three white papers 4,5,6 have been published since the finalization of the UNSCEAR 2013
Report to set out evaluations of the implications of new scientific developments for thefindings of the report for the period up to end of 2016. The results of these reviews of new
information have generally confirmed the assumptions and findings of the UNSCEAR 2013
Report. The findings remain broadly robust within their inherent uncertainties. From astrictly scientific viewpoint, a full, formal update of the UNSCEAR 2013 Report, either inwhole or part would not be warranted4,5,6. Nevertheless, more extensive analyses of the newdata and information could lead to differences in some of the precise details and findings of
the UNSCEAR 2013 Report, and/or contribute to an improved understanding andcommunication of the underlying science and its implications within various constituencies(e.g., policy makers, public health officials, public and the media). More authoritative
statements (with reduced uncertainty) could be made on a number of issues owing to themuch more extensive information now available (e.g. on whether or not the observed
increased incidence in thyroid cancer among young people can be attributed to radiation
exposure from the accident).
The Committee aims to provide a comprehensive evaluation of the implications of the new
information that has become available since its UNSCEAR 2013 Report and set out an
authoritative and up-to-date assessment of the levels and effects of radiation exposure at thetime of the tenth anniversary of the accident in 2021.
4UNSCEAR. Developments since the 2013 UNSCEAR report on the levels and effects of radiation exposuredue to the nuclear accident following the Great East-Japan earthquake and tsunami. A 2015 white paper toguide the Scientific Committee’s future programme of work. United Nations Scientific Committee on theEffects of Atomic Radiation. United Nations, New York, 2015.
5UNSCEAR. Developments since the 2013 UNSCEAR report on the levels and effects of radiation exposuredue to the nuclear accident following the Great East-Japan earthquake and tsunami. A 2016 white paper toguide the Scientific Committee’s future programme of work. United Nations Scientific Committee on theEffects of Atomic Radiation. United Nations, New York, 2016.
6UNSCEAR. Developments since the 2013 UNSCEAR report on the levels and effects of radiation exposuredue to the nuclear accident following the Great East-Japan earthquake and tsunami. A 2017 white paper toguide the Scientific Committee’s future programme of work. United Nations Scientific Committee on theEffects of Atomic Radiation. United Nations, New York, 2017.