President's Comments - March 23, 2005 -1

For the report "Promotion of the Research Activities for Precautionary and Recovering Approaches for Environmental Contamination by Radioactive Materials"

March 23, 2005

 The Science Council of Japan published the report “Promotion of the Research Activities for Precautionary and Recovering Approaches for Environmental Contamination by Radioactive Materials” on March 23, 2005. The report describes the necessity of an environmental radiation monitoring system in the wider region, precaution against and recovery from environmental contamination, the enhancement of research systems, and the importance of training human resources in this field. The essential point is reviewed concerning the measures to protect the people in Japan and the neighboring countries from environmental contamination by radioactive materials, which may be caused by the increasing use of nuclear energy.

 Since the middle of the 20th Century, the use of radiation and nuclear energy has made a great contribution to industrial development and improvement in living standards. At present, about 80 nuclear power stations are operated in East Asia and a full-scale reprocessing plant of spent fuels is in test operation in Japan. Nuclear powered warships cruise the sea around Japan, and dismantlement of old nuclear submarines is carried out on the opposite shore of the Japan Sea. Since the end of the Cold War, the menace of terrorism has been made manifest with the use of compact nuclear weapons and dirty bombs with radioactive materials. Therefore, it is necessary to construct the network of the environmental radiation and radioactivity monitoring system in East Asia for protection against nuclear hazard caused by the emission of radioactive materials in the countries of this region including Japan. For safe disposal of radioactive waste accumulated in the reprocessing plant, it is a matter of urgency to establish disposal technology that can be accepted by the public. In order to settle these problems, it is necessary to enhance the research systems, to strengthen coordination between research institutes, and to focus on the education for training scientists and engineers in this field.

 In order to satisfy the increase in energy demand among developing countries, further development of nuclear energy is expected in East Asia without aggravating global warming. For the purpose of protection of the people in Japan and the neighboring countries from environmental contamination by radioactive materials, it is essential for Japan to positively adopt the various policies described above and to take the leadership in accomplishing their mission. For this purpose, there are two types of measures to be taken: those implemented by the government and the others that should be contented with by related universities, research institutes, scientific societies and scientists themselves.

by Kiyoshi Kurokawa, President of the Science Council of Japan