Conceptual framework for decision-making on public protection measures in the event of a radiation emergency: a paradigm shift.
Kuryndin A. V., Shapovalov A. S., Ivanov E. A., Kutkov V. A.
The review of the modern system for protecting the public in a radiation emergency is presented. The system is based on the assessment of the hazard of facilities and the corresponding strategy for the protection of the public in a radiation emergency. Application of this approach does not expect calculation of doses to the public at the initial phase of emergency to prove decision on protective actions, but it’s required to assess the safety status of the facilities through the application of emergency action levels (EALs) to identify and classify an emergency. Use of EALs eliminates the need to calculate doses at the initial stage of an accident and compare them with general criteria for taking measures to protect the population.
At initial phase of the emergency decisions are made solely on the basis of the analysis of the state of critical safety functions and (or) physical barriers of the facility preventing radiation impact on people and the environment, and at later phases of the emergency development (after the completion of contamination of the territory due to the atmospheric release) – on the basis of analysis of the results of environmental radiation monitoring using the operational intervention levels (OILs).
The system for protecting the public in case of a radiation emergency based on the concept of avertable dose as a basis for making decisions on protective actions, currently in force in the Russian Federation, has been also reviewed. Application of this concept requires calculation of doses to the population at the initial phase of emergency to prove decision on protective actions, which in conditions of beyond design basis accident is almost impossible due to the lack of data on the characteristics of the atmospheric release of radioactive substances.
The introduction into domestic practice of a system for the protection of the public in the event of a radiation emergency, based on the hazard assessment of the facilities and applying operational triggers – EALs and OILs – is a necessary step in learning lessons from the past accidents.
► Keywords: nuclear power plant emergency, emergency planning, emergency response, public protection, operational intervention levels, emergency action levels.
Article language: Russian. Pp. 5–23. [in Russian]. DOI: 10.26277/SECNRS.2024.114.4.001.
