放射線教育の歴史と現状 : 福島第1 原子力発電所事故を踏まえて

福島原発の事故前後で国民の放射線に対する関心が大きく変化した．また大部分の原発は再稼働の目安が立たず，電力政策の変更を余儀なくされた．最終的には国民の判断に委ねられるが，放射線教育は30 年にわたり初等教育で行われなかったため，多くの人々は知識が不十分な状態にある．政府はこの問題解決の一つとして，初等・中等教育用の放射線副読本を作成した．しかし専門家からみて，むずかしい語句が多く問題を感じた．将来X 線を日常的に扱う歯学部学生を対象とし，副読本の理解度を調べた結果，十分に理解できていないことが判明し，初等・中等教育における放射線教育の方法を再考する必要があると結論づけられた．また多くの報告から放射線教育者の育成が早急に望まれることも判明した．本総説の目的は，放射線教育の歴史を振り返り，現在の国民の放射線に対する知識の現状，そして福島原子力発電所の事故と放射線との関係を知ってもらうことである．

Since the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear disaster in 2011, Japanese people’s interest in radiation has dramatically changed．After the incident, most nuclear power plants were switched off and they have not yet resumed operation．This has forced the Japanese government to alter the electric energy policy．Although the energy policy is dependent on public opinion, the general public has little knowledge of radiation and atomic power, because radiation education has not been taught in elementary or secondary schools for approximately 30 years．Hence, the government has created two supplementary texts on radiation—one for elementary school students, and the other for middle and high school students．As radiation experts, however, we felt that many phrases used in the texts were too difficult, and therefore, we launched a survey to gauge dental students’ understanding of the texts, as dental students will routinely use X-rays as part of their work．The survey revealed that the dental students did not fully understand the phrases in the supplementary text for elementary school students．Thus, the method of radiation education needs to be rethought．Furthermore, reports on the radiation knowledge questionnaire helped us realize that radiation knowledge is scarce among high school and university students．There were previously very few teachers who could teach about radiation in junior-high and high schools, and this skill is highly desired．The purpose of the review is to reconsider the history of Japanese radiation education in elementary and secondary schools, to update the current status of public knowledge of radiation, and to explain the status of radioisotopes in the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear disaster．