InterActions meeting @ SLAC November 5 th , 2013 Saeko Okada PR office, KEK

1. What is the best strategy against crisis communication and how to prepare the risk communication? - Lessons from the radioactive material leakage at J-PARC - InterActions meeting @ SLAC November 5th, 2013 Saeko Okada PR office, KEK

2. J-PARC(Japan Proton Accelerator Research Complex)

3. What happened ? It was at around 11:55 on May 23, 2013 The electromagnets for slow extraction of proton beams from the 50-GeV synchrotron (MR) malfunctioned An intense peaked beam beyond a designed value was delivered to the gold target in the Hadron experimental hall (HD hall) Part of the gold target was damaged and the radioactive material dispersed from the gold target

4. 異常なビーム • 標的が異常な高温に • 放射性物質の発生 • 実験ホールへの漏えい • →　作業者の被ばく • 実験施設外への漏えい • →　管理区域外へ 陽子ビーム 陽子ビーム 6.6 cm 金標的の写真

5. More in detail • Due to the malfunction of electromagnets, intense peaked proton beam exceeded a designed value was delivered to the gold target • The target was • instantaneously heated up to a very high temperature • partially damaged, causing vaporization of gold and dispersed of radioactive material in gold • The radioactive material leaked into the primary beamline room because the target container was not hermetically sealed

6. Since airtightness of the primary beamline room was not sufficient, the radioactive material leaked into the HD hall -.> workers were exposed to radiation • 34 out of 102 at the HD hall were internally exposed to radiation • Maximum amount of their radiation doses was 1.7 mSvbased on the whole-body counter measurement, however, no adverse effects was found • Due to operation of ventilation fans in the HD hall, the radioactive material was released into the environment outside of the radiation controlled area of the HD facility

7. Then it leaded to… • The radioactive material leaked into the environment outside of the radiation controlled area of the Hadron Experimental facility (HD facility) • The total amount of radioactive material released into the HD hall was estimated with a simulation found to be -20 billion Bq (based on actual data of the airborne sample that had been collected at HD hall and readings of the area monitors in the HD hall, being ) • The radiation dose of the site boundary at the location closest to the HD facility was estimated below 0.29 uSv which has little effect on the environment

8. Why it happened? It was due to the a series of incidents beyond expectations and a failure in grabbing ongoing situations property

9. Media relation

10. Media coverage – so huge

11. Covered every event 情報隠しなどの不祥事 戦闘モード（興奮期） 記者の関心やニュース量 　冷静期 　沈静期 発生 時間の経過

12. An accident became a matter!

13. Why? • Inadequate operation at the first step • JAEA held the press conference at 2 am in the midnight on Friday! • Just soon after it turned out that it was an accident that had to be reported to the Nuclear Regulation Authority • Press wrote the report with HUGE ANGER because there were little information even though they were waken up in the midnight, and that anger kept on affecting the entire reports • KEK press office was not informed about it until Monday

14. Background • J-PARC is co-managed by KEK and Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA) • JAEA has had some matters by then • They hide the video related theirformer accident happened with Monju Nuclear Power Plant to the press • Former executive director suddenly resigned • “Radioactive material” – strong sense of fear rooted deeply in the public caused by Fukushima Journalists entitled the reports “Again, JAEA, due to the same substantial nature of atomic energy society which caused Fukushima”

15. At the press conference • We had to hold the press conference at the press club which belongs to Nuclear Regulation Authority, whose journalists were not science journalists • Who are hard to understand the technical explanations done by researchers • Press materials prepared by researchers were not plain enough to let the journalists understood • Researchers were not used to communicate with journalists, no experiences of media training

16. Inhabitants & an opposition faction relation

17. Explanatory meetings • 1st series • 13th to 15th of June, 3 times • 2ndseries • 31st of Oct. to 2nd of Nov., 3 times • Most of the participants are inhabitants at the village, who are supportive to J-PARC • One man, who is not the inhabitant but opposite to atomic energy opposes the restart of J-PARC, agitating theinhabitants(even though the number of his supporters is not so big so far) • However, the media quotes his comment… • We tried our best to answer their questions sincerely • Open the “Hotline” from July • Any comments and questions about the accident were accepted by phone or email

18. Inhabitants’ inquiries and comments were… “We are angry” “We are sad because you betrayed our trust” “You physicists at KEK are so arrogant that you are not thinking about us at all” “I want to know what you were thinking when you started the fan”

19. Lessons from this event If we could not let the public or the media understood the substantial information properly, it is the same thing as we did not inform them at all It is the matter of trans-science communication: the emotion matters first. How much the researchers feels their responsibilities to the society matters. Unless otherwise, the public will not listen to our rational explanation

20. We need “the third man” Again, this man… http://www.galileo-movie.jp/index.html “It’s true that human beings have kept on breaking the nature. On the other hand, you have also kept on accepting its favor. The problem is just which way to choose.” (Dr. Yukawa from the movie Midsummer Equation)

21. What was good was… Those journalists reportedthe accident, including TV reporters of private TV broadcasting companies, came the press conference of T2K to have covered it!