Course Review – Radioecology: 放射線環境学

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This course was about learning the science of radiation and the effect of radioactive isotopes on the environment, including the influence on crops, wildlife and the human body. Due to the Fukushima nuclear reactor accident (3.11), a substantial amount of radioactive substances were released into the atmosphere. Subsequently, land, including forest, farm, and rice field as well as the ocean, was polluted. Understanding the science behind this accident accoupled with sociological context, student

Learning Content

  1. Basics of radiation
  2. Basics of radioisotopes
  3. Understanding the meaning of Bq(Becquerel)
  4. How it affects the human body (mechanism of internal and external exposure)
  5. The movement of radioisotopes in soil
  6. The movement of radioisotopes from soil to crop
  7. Potassium and Cesium movement within plants
  8. Radioisotopes movement within the livestock
  9. Radioactive contamination for fish
  10. Radioactive contamination for fruits
  11. Radioactive contamination for rice
  12. Radioactive contamination in forest
  13. The safety standard of food on radioactive contamination
  14. How to determine the safety level for crops on radioactive contamination
  15. Consumer awareness of radioactive contamination
  16. The discrepancy between consumer awareness and actual science; economic and social loss of radioactive contamination

As there was no assigned report nor essay consisting of the material we learned; however, the evaluation took place in terms of exams, I want to use this platform for informing what I have learned.

One thing to note is that the course was taught in Japanese, so this report will be a translation of the material. Also, this report has a mere purpose of compiling the course's information for my own understanding, thus there are abbreviations and not a culminating reference document of the course.

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Learning Significance