Health consequences 35 years and 10 years after the Chernobyl and Fukushima nuclear accidents

After the two major nuclear accidents of Chernobyl in 1986 and Fukushima in 2011, the affected populations were exposed to radionuclides accidentally released into the environment that could affect their health. Numerous epidemiological studies have shown the health effects of ionizing radiation in populations exposed to different situations (Japanese atomic bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, uranium miners, populations exposed to indoor radon, etc.). The health of populations affected by radioactive fallout from the Chernobyl accident in Ukraine and the Fukushima accident in Japan has also been the subject of epidemiological studies. The health consequences of the Fukushima accident differ in many ways from those of the Chernobyl accident. We propose here a synthesis of the knowledge on the health consequences of these two major nuclear events. The recognized health effects and the potential health effects associated with radioactive fallout from these accidents are briefly presented.