Radon risk communication: Lessons for radiation protection

The objective of radon risk communication is to increase the number of radon testing and mitigation actions in dwellings, public spaces and working places if radon concentration exceeds the national reference level. Thus, risk communication supports authorities in their implementation of the European Basic Safety Standards Directive following the legal requirement to increase radon awareness. Despite the high number of awareness campaigns
conducted in different European Member States, the levels of testing and mitigation actions hardly increase. Why is radiation protection behavior not improving despite all these efforts?
This study presents a systematic overview of awareness campaigns in all EU MS, it details the interventions conducted and the effect of awareness campaigns on knowledge about radon in specifics and radiation protection in general. Moreover, it provides empirical evidence on whether is knowledge the most important factor for radiation protection behavior or if there
are other factors on which risk communication should focus. The data used in this study was collected through group interviews and document analysis in the context of the DG Energy project EU-RAP (27 EU Member States) and Computer assisted web interviews conducted for the RadoNorm European Behavioral Atlas including respondents from 13 EU MS. The results from the radon risk communication case, explained through behavioral protection
theory, provide empirical evidence which can better inform radiation risk communication strategies.