title: Decision making for late-phase recovery from nuclear or radiological incidents: new guidance from NCRP.
abstract: In 2010, the US National Council on Radiation Protection and Measurements (NCRP) established a scientific committee (SC5-1) to prepare a comprehensive report on the framework and approach for optimising decision making in late-phase recovery from nuclear or radiological incidents that lead to wide-area contamination. The NCRP report builds on recommendations from the International Commission on Radiological Protection's (ICRP) Publication 111 which specifically addresses the protection of people living in long-term contaminated areas. Based on this approach, the report addresses all relevant dimensions: health, environment, economic, psychological, cultural, ethical, and political. NCRP, like ICRP, considers optimisation to be the best approach to decision making for balancing these multiple risk factors in situations involving wide-area contamination where the conventional clean-up approach may encounter some serious constraints. The NCRP report describes optimisation as an iterative process that can be broken down into a series of steps, all of which involve deliberations with stakeholders as a necessary element for a community-focused recovery effort. The steps, elaborated on in the report, range from defining the situation to a series of actions involving assessing impacts, evaluating options, developing a strategy, and demonstrating its successful implementation. In conclusion, the NCRP report makes a series of recommendations aimed at enhancing and strengthening late-phase recovery following a major nuclear or radiological incident.
authors: Public Health England, Chilton, Didcot, Oxon OX11 0RQ, UK anne.nisbet@phe.gov.uk.
authors: A F
authors: AF
authors: Nisbet
authors: Illinois Institute of Technology, USA.
authors: S Y
authors: SY
authors: Chen
mesh_terms: D003657:Decision Making; D004189:Disaster Planning / Q000379:methods*; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000517:prevention & control; D017408:Guidelines as Topic; D006801:Humans; D011835:Radiation Protection / Q000379:methods*; D018788:Radioactive Hazard Release; D018570:Risk Assessment / Q000379:methods
keywords: Late-phase recovery; Nuclear and radiological incidents; Optimisation; Stakeholders; Wide-area contamination