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EU-STRA-Strålevern

Innovative integrated tools and platforms for radioecological emergency preparedness and post-accident response in Europe

Awarded: NOK 1.7 mill.

The Fukushima accident in 2011 raised a number of challenges for Emergency Preparedness. Although some issues were familiar from previous events, such as control of foodstuffs for sale and export, and the selection of appropriate countermeasures, others represented new challenges. These included the need for improved dispersion and deposition models, and the impacts of the accident on a range of consumer goods, not only foodstuffs. Communication and the media coverage of the accident stood out as an area where large changes could be seen as compared to, for example, the Chernobyl accident. The information was shared more rapidly and social media played an important role. Over the past 3 years, the PREPARE project has helped to ensure that some of the lessons learnt from Fukushima have been incorporated into emergency preparedness plans. Dispersion and transfer models have been updated, and NMBU has contributed with information on particle impacts. A series of stakeholder consultations has taken place across Europe and in Fukushima, including two meetings between national and local authorities in Rogaland on the West coast of Norway. The Rogaland meetings focused on addressing uncertainties after nuclear accidents, focusing on the possible impacts for Norwegian farming and other industries, including tourism. A large part of NMBU work has been related to communication challenges. This included a media content analysis of Dagsavisen and Aftenposten, as well as Twitter messages following the accident. The study was part of a large European media study, and data have been compared with other European media channels. Although there were differences in the way the accident was reported, the analysis showed that many media channels made mistakes in describing the radiation risks and potential health impacts. Overall the project should contribute significantly to improving Norwegian nuclear emergency preparedness and ensuring better communication between experts, authorities and media.

The management of the Fukushima event in Europe was far from optimal, and identified a number of areas needing improvement in emergency preparedness management. The Fukushima accident clearly demonstrated the importance of a source term estimation that is not only based on information from the plant operators. The existing requirements (Codex Alimentarius and Euratom regulations) for contaminated goods were difficult to implement, and information strategies lacking. The PREPARE project will develop a scie ntific and operational basis to improve information collection, information exchange and the evaluation for such types of accidents. This will be achieved through a collaboration of 42 industry, research and governmental organisations in Europe. The proje ct has 7 Work Packages covering different areas of research and development. UMB is involved in 4 Research Areas (RA). RA1: Platform for information collection and exchange will develop scientific methods and tools for the collection and analysis of infor mation from any nuclear or radiological event, including analysis of uncertainties. RA2 Consumer Goods will through a series of stakeholder workshops, provide an analysis and recommendations on management of contaminated goods. RA3 Improvement to terrestr ial aspects of decision support systems will address deficits in the representation of the physico-chemical properties of radionuclides emitted in the atmospheric dispersion models of ARGOS and RODOS. Dispersion calculations will be combined with monitori ng information around a power plant, and physico-chemical properties of the radionuclides. RA4 Communication with the public will cover both the nuclear emergency as well as post-emergency phases. Work will include an analysis of the various media routes (including social media) used in Europe in the aftermath of the accident, as well as interactive, case-based analysis through workshops and a cross cutting task force meeting.

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EU-STRA-Strålevern