Suboptimal radiation protection for municipal employees operating in the Fukushima designated zone

At Fukushima, many public sector workers have experienced occupational exposure to radiation. The area around the stricken nuclear power plant comprises an emergency evacuation preparation zone (radius 30 km) with an inner no-entry zone (radius 20 km) and a planned evacuation zone (‘designated zone’ hereinafter).1 The designated zone comes under the purview of the local governments of one prefecture, four cities, six towns and three villages, with a combined workforce of about 34 000 employees2 3 (figure 1). These workers perform various functions in the designated zone, such as overseeing evacuation and temporary return of residents, accompanying searches for bodies, and surveying debris. Also working in the designated zone are employees of various ministries and emergency agencies, including defence, fire and police, and their local departments. Administrative measures to protect public servants from …