Nuclear Emergency Communication: One Emergency, Many Voices and the Problem of Coordination

Complex emergencies require participation of a great number of institutions that are directly or indirectly responsible for emergency management at the local, national and international level. The concept of integrated emergency management presupposes a strong operational and communication coordination. Moreover, an attempt to coordinate or even centralise communication in nuclear or radiological emergencies is recognised in many national, as well in international documents. However, past experiences show that in radiological emergencies there are always many voices explaining, commenting, giving opinions and, finally, influencing the perception and response of the population. This paper shows that achieving a globally coordinated approach in communicating with many publics about a single local nuclear and radiological emergency likely remains only wishful thinking of emergency communication planners.