Empowering decision making for nuclear emergencies
Decision support systems (DSS) have long been recognised as having a vital role to play in the development of arrangements for nuclear emergency preparedness and post accident management. Several decision support systems have been developed to help achieve this; but with little consultation with potential decision makers and limited understanding of the emergency management procedures across Europe. Within the EVATECH project, supported by the Euratom Framework Programme, scenario-focused workshops on the restoration of contaminated residential areas were planned in a number of European countries. The intention was to identify the factors driving decision-making, explore the information needs of all parties involved and develop methods for stakeholder involvement and public participation in emergency response planning efforts. Several case studies in seven European countries, in which it was assumed that a hypothetical accident in a nuclear power plant, in research reactor plant or in nuclear power vessel, had led to a release of considerable amounts of radionuclide contaminants, provided the basis for the workshops. The different types of protective actions for protecting the urban population from undue exposure and to clean up contaminated areas were evaluated by a variety of invited stakeholders groups. These groups enabled a shared understanding of concerns and issues of all key players related to decisions made on protective actions, which is a pre-requisite for developing well conceived and acceptable solutions. The exchange of experience between stakeholder groups in different countries has further enriched the dialogue and will contribute to more common and acceptable approaches in Europe. These workshops provided valuable feedback for improving the response to nuclear emergencies and especially for the refinement of Decision Support Systems, which were developed to aid this process. Modules and methods to assess the consequences of nuclear accidents and implementation of countermeasures will be developed and integrated into ARGOS and RODOS systems to provide wider applicability across the European Union.