OBJECTIVE The purpose was to study public health service activities developed during non-emergency periods to respond to potential nuclear accidents and to contribute to an understanding of public health nurses' awareness of the possibility of such accidents. METHODS For the purpose of this study, we chose prefectural health centers located in a prefecture with a nuclear power plant and in two adjacent prefectures, along with all local administrative bodies (cities, towns, and villages) in these prefectures. For each one of 124 entities, we selected one public health nurse in charge of health crisis management from among the personnel to be targeted for a questionnaire survey conducted by mail. The survey period was from October to November 2009, and the questionnaire contained questions on the following: whether there had been any disasters over the past ten years; whether the respondent had received training in public health services regarding nuclear accidents; and public health service activities developed during non-emergency periods to respond to potential nuclear accidents (and the amount of work done in this regard). RESULTS The response rate for our survey was 71.8%. Of the total of 124 entities chosen, 9 were aware of the possibility of radiation accidents and 12 had manuals on radiation accidents. Two local governments and five health centers had participated in accident drills, and at both of two local governments, public health nurses were expected to act as guides during resident evacuation in the event of a nuclear accident. Public health nurses were sent to participate in workshops on radiation at four facilities located in the prefecture with a nuclear power plant. Our analysis revealed a lack of knowledge (beta = -0.404, P < 0.01) and concerns over one's own safety (beta = -0.233, P < 0.01) to have significant effects on the level of anxiety with regard to performing tasks as public health nurses in the event of disaster. CONCLUSIONS The results of our survey lead us to believe that apart from creation of manuals, provision of opportunities to gain knowledge of materials regarding past damage to the health of residents and how such damage can be coped with is likely to be effective in developing effective measures in response to disasters.