The Impact of Radioactive Contamination and the Effects of Subsequent Decontamination Efforts on Fukushima Kindergartens and Childcare Facilities

On March 11th, 2011, a massive earthquake in northeast Japan caused an accident at the Tokyo Electric Power Company Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) that contaminated the surrounding environment with radioactive... [ view full abstract ]

On March 11^th, 2011, a massive earthquake in northeast Japan caused an accident at the Tokyo Electric Power Company Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) that contaminated the surrounding environment with radioactive pollution. The radioactive pollution hit Fukushima prefecture the hardest. The 12 childcare facilities that we would eventually visit over the next few years after the earthquake had an air dose rate of 8μSv/h - 0.2μSv/h right after the accident.

Immediately after this accident at FDNPP, outdoor activities at surrounding childcare and kindergarten facilities were severely restricted. For example, farming activities were suspended and childcare workers chose to restrict children from drinking tap water.

Following the accident, the Japanese government considered all childcare facilities playgrounds with air dose rate levels above 0.23μSv/h to be eligible for government-funded decontamination efforts. 　

 Public childcare facilities were given assistance on multiple occasions whenever the playground contamination levels were high.  However, these facilities received assistance only once. Therefore, the staff at private facilities were left to clean up much of the playground entirely by themselves.

In addition, public funds could only be used for decontamination efforts of playground surface. Efforts to clean the kindergartens vegetable gardens, play equipment, and trees did not receive public funds. Facility staff and/or parents were, again, left with no option but to conduct these cleanup efforts by themselves. 

Our research showed that in 2016, 5 years after the earthquake, the air dose rate at the facilities was 0.18μSv/h - 0.05μSv/h.

 As the cleanup effort progressed, limited outdoor activities were restarted at several of the childcare facilities. However, the cleanup is far from over and outdoor activities at some facilities are still severely restricted. 

Outdoor activity is essential to healthy childhood education, and radioactive contamination has been robbing children of this necessity for a long period of time.