External effective radiation dose to workers in the restricted area of the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant during the third year after the Great East Japan Earthquake

Abstract

Since the Great East Japan Earthquake on 11 March 2011, Iitate Village has continued to be classified as a deliberate evacuation area, in which residents are estimated to receive an annual additional effective radiation dose of >20 mSv. Some companies still operate in Iitate Village, with a special permit from the Cabinet Office Team in Charge of Assisting the Lives of Disaster Victims. In this study, we measured the annual effective radiation dose to workers in Iitate Village from 15 January to 13 December 2013. The workers stayed in Iitate for 10 h and left the village for the remaining 14 h each working day. They worked for 5 days each week in Iitate Village, but stayed outside of the village for the remaining 2 days each week. We found that the effective radiation dose of 70% of the workers was <2 mSv, including natural radiation; the maximum dose was 3.6 mSv. We estimated the potential annual additional effective radiation dose if people returned full-time to Iitate. Our analysis supports the plan for people to return to their home village at the end of 2017.