Using Google trends data to study public interest in radiation

This study evaluates the correlation and cycle of public interest in radiation worldwide with radiation-related incidents between countries using Google Trends from 2008 to 2018. Google trends was employed to normalise traffic data on a scale of 0 to 100, and were presented as monthly relative search volume (RSV) using radiation, radioactive, nuclear medicine and x-ray as a search term. A remarkable peak was identified in March 2011 during the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster. In conclusion, public interest towards radiation is correlated with radiation-related incidents or events. (paper)