were prepared on the basis of the questionnaires of the
former surveys by the former Ministry of Health and Welfare,
municipality of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and Hidankyo
(Japan Confederation of A- and H- Bomb Sufferers Organizations).
We also collected testimonies concerning their
experiences and feelings about the nuclear tests. They were
the replies to an open-ended question appended to the survey
questionnaire. To collect and leave behind these testimonies
after they pass away is one of our research objectives.
The present paper focuses mainly upon the health conditions
and mental diseases of the residents near the SNTS.
For this research, we have tried to clarify their health and
mental problems on the basis of the answers to the questionnaire
survey. We expect to show an important part of the
whole picture of the human suffering effects of the nuclear
tests through this attempt. This study is the first attempt at
the clarification of the effects of radiation exposure through
a questionnaire survey.
In order to examine the effects of radiation exposure, we
also try to demonstrate differences between the results in
Semipalatinsk surveys and those in Hiroshima and Nagasaki
surveys. Of course there are differences between Hiroshima/
Nagasaki and Semipalatinsk; the former is the real atomicbomb damage and the latter is the nuclear tests. The radiation
exposure in the former is instantaneous and direct, but
the latter is protracted, chronic and indirect.3) Nevertheless,
there are some points common to both. In this paper we try
to highlight these points.