The Phoenix Leader Education Program successfully held its first “Hiroshima University Phoenix Program Summer School (Summer School) from August 26 to September 13, 2024, in collaboration with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). 14 participants, primarily professionals in the nuclear field, attended this short-term program from 14 member-countries of IAEA.

This summer school included lectures, site visits, and practical training in radiation disaster medicine and radiation measurement, providing participants with the essence of the necessary knowledge and skills provided in the three graduate courses of the Phoenix Program: Radiation Disaster Medicine, Radioactivity Environmental Protection and Radioactivity Social Recovery.

And, during the period of the summer school, from September 2 to 6, fieldwork was conducted in Fukushima Prefecture, including visits to the Fukushima Daiichi and Daini Nuclear Power Plants and lectures by doctors and local university professors who responded to the disaster, to observe ongoing reconstruction efforts in Fukushima, which was affected by the nuclear disaster in 2011 caused by the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident, and to deepen understanding of the long-term effects of the nuclear accident on the local community.

In addition to fostering “Phoenix Leaders” who can contribute to the recovery from radiation disasters in the Phoenix Program doctoral course, we will further contribute to improvements in nuclear safety management globally, holding the summer school annually in future as a short-term intensive education to practitioners and other professionals.

We also hope that the summer school will serve as a platform for recruiting doctoral students for the Phoenix Program, as we expect that the learning content of the summer school will spark a deeper interest and in continuing research in the Phoenix Program’s doctoral program among the participants. This will enable us to attract students in the doctoral courses of the Phoenix Program and to train more “Phoenix Leaders”. We will also be able to build a broader and more global academic network in the field of nuclear field than ever before.

A lecture about reconstruction from the atomic bombing of Hiroshima

Hands-on Training in Radiation Disaster Medicine

Tour of TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station

Completion Ceremony