【研究ノート】チェルノブイリ・旧プリピャチ住民への聞き取り調査備忘録 : フクシマそして原発を考えるためにも

This research note is a memorandum for our interviews with those who lived in Prypiat city near the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The inhabitants in Prypiat had to be evacuated to other places due to the nuclear accidents in April, 1986. We conducted the interviews with them in order to examine one of several aspects of the socioeconomic and psychological sufferings they endured. The results of our survey show that there are some remarkable damages such as loss of property and home; disintegration of labor ability, places of education and community. They had to accept unemployment or transfer to lower employment as a result of the unexpected evacuation. They also experienced friction between Pripyat residents and Kiev residents because the Pripyat residents received priority for housing to those who lived in Kiev. In addition to these kinds of socioeconomic effects, they have experienced psychological effects caused by radiation. They have still anxieties about their health in the future because they recognized that they were exposed to radiation after the accident. Now, we have to think about Fukushima in the future including the compensation and allowance for the victims of the accidents, and to discuss whether we should continue to use nuclear energy or not. Lessons from the Chernobyl accident will give essential viewpoints when we consider these important issues.