Symposium on evacuation and shelter-in-place strategies in nuclear disasters: preventing disaster-related deaths.

On 27 September 2024, at the 67th Annual Meeting of the Japan Radiation Research Society at the Kitakyushu International Conference Center in Kokura City, the program organizers held a symposium titled 'Symposium on Evacuation and Shelter-in-place Strategies in Nuclear Disasters: Preventing Disaster-Related Deaths.' This symposium aimed to examine practical disaster-prevention strategies at the operational level in disaster-affected areas during nuclear disasters and featured presentations and general discussions with four speakers. The topics included evacuation during the Great East Japan Earthquake and Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant accident; ethical problems regarding medical policy during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic; on-site issues in supporting areas affected by the Noto Peninsula earthquake; and estimates of the effect of reducing radiation exposure by shelter-in-place in four scenarios during a nuclear disaster. The discussion provided insights into decision-making processes during nuclear disasters. The symposium concluded that government must collaborate with medical and nursing care professionals to develop specific disaster-prevention measures. These plans should be tailored to the particular circumstances of the disaster and the unique conditions of each facility.