Influence of Radiation Education on Risk Perception in Japanese Dental Students

Since the Fukushima Dai-ichi Nuclear Power Plant accident in 2011, the Japanese Government has been focusing radiation education in elementary, middle and high schools to improve public understanding about the continuing existence of nuclear plants. The government developed two supplementary texts about radiation, including nuclear power, for elementary school, middle school, and high school students. The authors evaluated the content of these texts by questionnaire research and found them very difficult to understand even for dental students. After that we examined the relationship between radiation education and risk perception. The results of the present study indicate that radiation education might change students’ risk perception with regard to radiation.