The road map established at the conclusion of the European research project Shamisen underlines the importance of involving the population in the management of an accident and taking into account the social, economic and psychological effects, particularly in the context of an evacuation of contaminated territories.
This article was published on the website of the IRSN, and can be found in french here.
What to do or not to do in the case of a nuclear accident? How to improve the medical follow-up and living conditions of the affected population? Because the decisions taken at the time of the accidents of Chernobyl and Fukushima sometimes “did more harm than good”, the European Commission launched Shamisen, a research program that brought together 19 European and Japanese organizations including IRSN , as well as American, Belarusian, Russian and Ukrainian experts.
The work resulted in the development of 28 specific recommendations for the nuclear accident to improve both crisis preparedness, crisis management and the post-accident phase. In addition, general principles have been identified that can be applied to other types of accidents and disasters.
This roadmap aims to extend the management of the nuclear accident beyond the protection of the population against exposure to ionizing radiation. Measures such as the evacuation of contaminated areas have important psychological, social and economic consequences which must be taken into account.
In summary, recommendations focus on three main objectives to involve the affected population in decision-making alongside experts and authorities:
1. Take into account the well-being of the affected population
2.Promote the participation of the affected population and other actors such as medical staff
3.Respect the autonomy and dignity of the affected populations.
Downolad the full 28 recommandations here.