MCDA stakeholder workshops

Within the CONFIDENCE project, comprehensive methods have been developed for better support of decision making under uncertain conditions, mainly by use of Multi Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA). While MCDA in general was available for use in the radiological crisis management community, no method of analysing uncertain conditions and supporting robust decision making under these conditions was available. During the CONFIDENCE project, the existing MCDA tool was improved and enhanced to deal with these requirements. For providing solid and reliable decision support for such a situation as a radiological emergency, the evaluation of decision-support tools by the stakeholders and their feedback is important, especially when considering their heterogeneous background caused by e.g. living in different countries. Therefore, several stakeholder panels in different countries were organized to include the end users’ opinions and to assure the usability of the final tool

Stakeholder engagement and involvement in nuclear emergency preparedness – the Slovak Republic’s experience in RODOS tool-driven workshops

The facilitated workshops driven by exercise scenarios using decision support tools customised to national conditions have proven to be efficient, with a focus on possible real problems and finding real solutions. The stakeholders of the Slovak Republic actively entered the post-accident preparedness process with the objective “to increase the coherence and effectiveness of nuclear and radiological emergency management in Europe, including the rehabilitation of contaminated areas through the establishment of an effective working platform of emergency management institutions, research institutes, end-users and other stakeholders for initiating application-oriented improvements of methods, procedures, guidelines and information tools”. After the experience within the EVATECH Project, there was a clear statement from all stakeholders that facilitated workshops and work in such multidisciplinary and multilateral groups are challenging, yet rewarding for them. As was seen later on in the process, this type of work was very successful, efficient, and made an essential basis for future activities in post-accident preparedness process development and for building networks and trust between partners within the Slovak Republic and within Europe in the EC projects

Operational procedures of analytical platform

The PREPARE analytical platform (AP) has been developed under the framework of the European project PREPARE (“Innovative integrated tools and platforms for radiological emergency preparedness and post-accident response in Europe”, EC FP7-EURATOM-FISSION GA 323287. http://www.prepare-eu.or

Probabilistic data assimilation within RODOS

An outline of the uncertainty handling and data assimilation framework within a Bayesian frame is given, illustrated by its use within RODOS. Particular emphasis is paid to the need for compatible methodologies and data structures to hold uncertainty assessments throughout all the modules of a decision support system. Progress at developing techniques and modules is described: (i) to use belief nets to predict the source term when an accidental release threatens; (ii) to estimate the source term using a ring of gamma monitors at the periphery of the plant; and (iii) to estimate the source term from both near and more distant measurements. The management of uncertainties in the food chain modelling is briefly indicated. Finally, the issue of moving the basis of prediction from modelling approaches to databases of environmental measurements is discussed

Facilitating the decision-making process after a nuclear accident - case studies in the Netherlands and Slovakia.

Nuclear accidents do not occur frequently, but their biological, psychosocial, and/or economic consequences may be severe. Hence, a thorough preparation for nuclear emergencies is needed to provide appropriate actions. During the transition phase of an accident, it is vital to include stakeholders in the decision-making process in order to gain support for the recovery strategy to be implemented as well as to share different perspectives, knowledge, and views on the decision problem. Because nuclear accidents are complex, involving many relevant factors that range from technical aspects such as health effects and costs to nontechnical issues such as social acceptance, a multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) may facilitate the decision-making process. The aim of this study was to investigate the usefulness of MCDA in the transition phase of a nuclear accident. To this end, an MCDA tool, which uses the weighted sum of a set of normalized criteria, was explored in exercises carried out in panel meetings with a selected set of (largely) governmental stakeholders. The panel meetings were performed in the Netherlands and the Slovak Republic. The exercises were based on a fictitious case study that affected the urban environment of a small city. Prior to the meetings, a set of 8 possible recovery strategies was identified. The use of the MCDA tool showed that it facilitated the decision-making process because it allowed for a structured and transparent approach in which stakeholders with diverse backgrounds can express their opinions and perspectives and reach consensus on the most appropriate recovery strategy. As such, it could be applied to a broader field of research involving any chemical release that necessitates an extended recovery strategy. Future research is needed in order to incorporate psychosocial effects of a nuclear accident as well as a broader group of stakeholders in exercises. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2021;17:376–387.</p