The use of radiation for the industry, medicine and energy has brought about significant benefits to humankind. However, its improper use can result in significant damage to people and environment, or the complete destruction of society, as seen in the atomic bomb disasters in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Based on its Five Guiding Principles, Hiroshima University is the world’s first University founded in a city where suffers from atomic bombing, and has been supporting the city’s rehabilitation from A-bomb damage in terms of academic field. The Research Institute for Radiation Biology and Medicine (RIRBM), among other institutions, has been the world leaders in the field of radiation casualty medicine. In the Hiroshima University 21st Century COE Program “Radiation Casualty Medical Research Center”, Hiroshima University has developed new frontiers of radiation casualty medicine based on radiation genetics and advanced the cultivation of human resources in the field of radiation casualty medicine. Moreover, as a “tertiary radiation emergency medical institution in the Western Japan bloc,” Hiroshima University has been proving a medical care in response to radiation emergencies, and engaged in RANET and REMPAN, as well as the global radiation emergency medicine information network of IAEA and WHO.

Right after the unprecedented Tohoku-Pacific Ocean Earthquake in March 2011 and the consequent damage to the Tokyo Electric Power Company Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Station, Hiroshima University has sent a total of more than 1300 people to Fukushima Prefecture as part of its “Radiation Emergency Medical Assistance Team”.The team has contributed to the safety and security of people in Fukushima Prefecture through the care of the people affected by radiation, offering assessment of the effects of radiation exposure on the residents and evaluation of possible environmental contamination. This event has revealed that nuclear power station disasters cause not only direct human injury and environmental contamination due to radiation exposure, they may also destroy human relations and degrade the fabric of society. Additionally, we found that recovery from the radiation disaster requires global leaders who are capable of directing the recovery in coordination with the international community with a clear vision of reconstruction, based on a comprehensive, cross-disciplinary knowledge including radiation science, environmental science, and social science. However, not only in Japan but also the global community has a definite shortage of global leaders with these abilities. The development of global leaders is not limited to affected regions like Japan and Chernobyl, but is considered a high priority issue of the international community.