A Summary of Fukushima Special Symposium at the AMS 2013 Annual Meeting and Scientific Communication Efforts with the Public in Japan

The Meteorological Society of Japan and American Meteorological Society jointly sponsored “Special Symposium on the Transport and Diffusion of Contaminants from the Fukushima Dai-Ichi Nuclear Power Plant: Present Status and Future Directions,” on January 6, 2013 at the AMS annual meeting in Austin, Texas. The accident at Fukushima Dai-Ichi Nuclear Power Plant (F1NPP) occurred due to a huge tsunami after the 2011 earthquake off the Pacific Coast of Tohoku, March 11, 2011. A total of 21 invited papers were presented in six sessions. Source emissions, transport and diffusion processes, and deposition of radio nuclides were understood relatively well both at the regional and global scales. Comparisons of various model results were also discussed. However, precise accounts of the accidents were not fully unveiled. After the accident, shortfalls of emergency managements came to clear both in the Japanese government and academia due to the fact that there were many uncertainties not only in the dispersion models but also in the meteorological models. Yet, it was essential to disseminate information as quickly as possible to the public to protect their safety. Accordingly, efforts were initiated in the Meteorological Society of Japan on how to communicate with the public correctly the scientific information that includes uncertainties.