Generic guidance on the lifting of emergency countermeasures

A. Nisbet, H. Rochford, T. Cabianca, A. Oudiz, G. Kirchner, M. Hoffmann, V. Bersch, M. Merz, Benny Carlé, Catrinel Turcanu, Alain Sohier, Johan Camps, Geert Olyslaegers

Research outputpeer-review

Abstract

Generic guidance on the withdrawal of sheltering, withdrawal of evacuation and evacuation of sheltered populations (displacement) has been developed based on previously unpublished work in the UK and France and on input from stakeholder panels in Germany, Belgium, France and the UK. The guidance is a living document that can be developed further in the future, both in its generic form and also as customised versions in some Member States. The guidance outlines the many factors which influence the withdrawal of emergency countermeasures: official confirmation that any release has stopped; adequacy of monitoring data; radiological criteria; radiological protection advice; availability of resources; social and psychological needs; stakeholder dialogue; and communication strategy. The relative importance placed by decision makers on each of these criteria would vary according to the nature and scale of the accident and also on socio-political, economic and cultural perspectives. In the event of a radiological incident, decision makers will need to be in a position to construct a strategy for managing the withdrawal of emergency countermeasures. For larger scale, longer duration releases involving several nuclides, a management strategy is likely to be complex.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)S39-S46
JournalRadioprotection
Volume45
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 2010

Cite this