Being that incidents such as the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as well as the

horrific accident at the Nuclear powerplant in Chernobyl took place within this century, it can be
assumed that we are still learning about the effects of such events to this day. It is important for
health care workers who deal with radiation directly or individuals who are affected by radiation
exposure, along with the rest of the public, to be well educated on this topic since the impact of
large-scale radiation exposure is seemingly unpredictable and long-lasting.
In August of 1945, the world was introduced to a new form of warfare when Plutonium
and Uranium bombs were detonated in Japan and exposed the public to gamma ray and neutron
radiation.1 The effects of this event should be covered in greater detail in schools and in the
media to emphasize that this form of warfare does not only impact the enemy in war, but many
innocent casualties can occur as well. It is known that medical personnel in Japan were killed
from the bombing, and a multitude of birth defects as well as childhood leukemia resulted from
this incident. It might be advantageous for governments to educate the newer generations on how
to possibly protect themselves if a large-scale radioactive event like this were to occur again
since it appears that individuals who were shielded underground and within the confines of
cement had greater survival than those who were unprotected.1 With the rise in global conflict
upon us, it seems that teaching the public about radiation protection is as important now as it
ever was.
It becomes even more important for the public to learn about radiation safety and the
radiobiological consequences of intense radiation exposure when knowing that not all large-scale
radiation events are intentional, and they can happen at any time, affecting individuals far from
the actual event. The Chernobyl powerplant explosion’s effects did not stay confined to that city
or even Ukraine. Food items were seen to be contaminated with Iodine-131, Cesium-134/137,
and Strontium-90 across Europe and required many donations from countries like the United
States to feed the affected regions. Various methods of food preparation have been implemented
for the regions of Europe affected by the Chernobyl powerplant explosion to lower radiation
exposure such as specific cooking techniques as well as chemical compounds used to reduce
radioactivity, but the adverse effects of such chemicals may not be a great option either.2
However, the public should be made more aware of these types of methods for possible
recurrences in the future.
 I believe a vast majority of the world’s population born decades after the radiation events
that took place in Japan and Ukraine is unaware of the global impact of them. On top of a need to
include radiation education in schools, it might be beneficial to institute a national awareness
month for the media to refresh the public’s memory of these sorts of events to better prepare for
similar events in the future. From personal experience, I believe healthcare workers in the
radiological fields are well-educated in radiation safety and radiobiology, but there should be
more information presented to the public and lawmakers to not take large-scale radiation events
lightly.

References
1. Douple EB, Mabuchi K, Cullings HM, et al. Long-term radiation-related health effects in
a unique human population: lessons learned from the atomic bomb survivors of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Disasters Med Public Health Prep. 2011;5(01)S122-S133.
https://doi.org/1001/dmp.2011.21
2. Nesterenko AV, Nesterenko VB, Yablokov AB. Radiation Protection after the Chernobyl
catastrophe. Ann NY Acad Sci. 2009;1181(1)287-327. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1749-
6632.2009.04836.x