Research activities (RTD)

Following the Fukushima accident needs for research have been identified on a European level. This comprises operational aspects of emergency management procedures, methods and tools as well as purely scientific investigations that may become operational beyond the framework of the three year project.

• Operational procedures for long lasting releases: Following the Fukushima Daiichi accident a review of existing procedures for long lasting releases and identification of possible needs for improvements by performing scenario calculations will be performed on a European level. (WP1)
• Platform for information collection and exchange: The objective of this activity is to develop scientific methods and tools that could be used by a European Platform (i.e. focal point) for the collection of and analysis of information from any nuclear or radiological event, particularly regarding the consequences and any further developments. The intention is to set up such a Platform on a scientific level and discuss within the three years of the project whether such a platform should be formalised either as part of the NERIS Platform or as a tool of the European Commission. (WP2)
• Contamiated goods: Following the Fukushima accident it became obvious, that the recommendations or requirements to deal with contaminated goods already existing worldwide (IAEA, Codex Alimentarius) and in Europe (Euratom regulations) were apparently too simple (based only on criteria in activity concentration) and not so easy to implement. Improvements should be proposed at least on a European level (WP3)
• Improvement to terrestrial aspects of decision support systems: Fukushima clearly demonstrated the importance of a source term estimation that is not only based on information from the plant operators. Lessons from Chernobyl showed deficits in the representation of the physico-chemical properties of radionuclides emitted in the atmospheric dispersion models of ARGOS and RODOS (WP4)
• Improvement to aquatic aspects of decision support systems: The aquatic models in decision support systems are far less developed than those for terrestrial ecosystems. This was apparent for the Fukushima accident as during the first month, there was no simulation of the activity released into the ocean. In this respect we intend to integrate state of the art aquatic models into the RODOS DSS and couple them with countermeasure simulation models. Further to this the new capabilities will be tested for several important European aquatic systems. (WP5)
• Communication with the public: The overall objective of the work package is to investigate the conditions and means for relevant, reliable and trustworthy information to be made available to the public at the appropriate time and according to its needs, both during the nuclear emergency as well as in the post-emergency phases. Information needs in this context refer to the understanding (by the members of the public) of the evolution of the accident, its management (and the related potential risks) and the capacity of the population and communities to prevent or mitigate individually and collectively harm arising from the threat. (WP6)