Announcement

In April 2020, wildfires were reported in the exclusion zone around the damaged Chernobyl nuclear reactor. The fires reached the red forest, one of the most contaminated natural environments , and came as close as two kilometers from the sarcophagi covering the damaged reactor. These are not the first wildfires after the 1986 accident and radiation scientists  have recognized the potential to return radioactive material into the air, especially cesium-137 and strontium-90. This poses an obvious and immediate health risk to fire fighters, but smoke plumes may also transport this re-suspended radioactive material over long distances, resulting in redistribution of the historic fall-out from the accident.

At the local and regional scale, people are concerned about the potential radiological impact too.  Several institutes have made assessments of the situation to answer these concerns, with a combination of satellite imagery and local observations of the fires’ location and intensity, radionuclide detection and models of atmospheric dispersion and transport of particles. Methods developed for the management of earlier nuclear and radiological emergencies were used and new tools, like source inversion techniques, were tested. A number of institutes have issued general statements as well as detailed reports on the Chernobyl wildfires, available to the public on websites and social media.  

In this webinar is discussed the analyses carried out by different institutes, including their rationales, methods, results, communication to the general public as well as collaboration among them. First several speakers present briefly the situation from their perspective. In the second half, participants’ questions are addressed by the speakers and a moderated discussion will be held.

Speakers:

• Valery Kashparov – Ukrainian Institute for Agricultural Research, National University of Life and Environmental Sciences (UIAR) – Ukraine
• Dmitry Bazyka -National Center for Radiation Medicine in Kiev,  the WHO Collaborating Center for Radiation and Health – Ukraine
• Wolfgang Raskob – Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) – Germany
• Jasper Tomas – National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) – The Netherlands
• Olivier Saunier – Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) – France
• Astrid Liland – Norwegian Radiation and Nuclear safety Authority (DSA) – Norway
• Johan Camps – Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK CEN) – Belgium
• Nick Beresford – UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (United Kingdom) and ALLIANCE Platform
  

Final Comments: Thierry Schneider – CEPN and Chair of NERIS – France

Discussion Chair: Lindis Skipperud – NMBU/CERAD – Norway

Chat Moderators: Yevgeniya Tomkiv and Deborah Oughton – NMBU/CERAD – Norway

• Download the presentations
  
• Watch the record

Dear colleagues,

Please note that SHARE a organizes its 2nd webinar on « Balancing action and longer-term outcomes during a time of crisis » on Thursday 23rd April, 15:00- 16:30. To register, please use the following link:

• register to the webinar
• further information

You can now download the record if the 2nd SHARE on « Balancing action and longer-term outcomes during a time of crisis » on the SHARE website : https://www.ssh-share.eu/share-neris-webinar/

We have the regret to inform you that following the cancelation of the ERPW 2020, the 6th NERIS Workshop is canceled for 2020 and reported to 2021. Further information on the scheduling will be communicated in coming months.

We are deeply sorry for the inconvenience, stay safe !

Use of uncertain information by decision makers at the various levels within the decision making process and its communication.

Guides and recommendations for the decision making in the post release and transition phase taking into account uncertain information will be presented and tested. Attendees will debate how to interpret, use and communicate uncertainties within the decision making process.  The course and practical sessions/workshops will also consider the: establishment and optimisation of remediation strategies; benefits of stakeholder involvement; inclusion of human behaviour, cultural differences and stakeholder preferences as a part of the tools to aid decision making. Training the trainers and facilitators of national, regional and local workshops based on learning from doing and own engagement and experience during the training course is one of the goals of the training.

We are pleased to share the first announcement of the training course, to be downloaded here.

Important dates:

• Pre-registration deadline: September 30, 2018
• Second announcement/Programme: October 31, 2018
• Registration: January 31, 2019
• Training course: May 13-16, 2019

For further information please contact the Coordinator (Tatiana Duranova tatiana.duranova@vuje.sk) or the NERIS Secretariat (sec@eu-neris.net).

Use of uncertain information by decision makers at the various levels within the decision making process and its communication.

Guides and recommendations for the decision making in the post release and transition phase taking into account uncertain information will be presented and tested. Attendees will debate how to interpret, use and communicate uncertainties within the decision making process.  The course and practical sessions/workshops will also consider the: establishment and optimisation of remediation strategies; benefits of stakeholder involvement; inclusion of human behaviour, cultural differences and stakeholder preferences as a part of the tools to aid decision making. Training the trainers and facilitators of national, regional and local workshops based on learning from doing and own engagement and experience during the training course is one of the goals of the training.

While there is no registration fee, training course participation is limited to a maximum of 24 participants and pre-registration is required by filling the online pre-registration form.

Priority will be given to participants from E.U. countries working in the domain of nuclear or radiological emergency and recovery management.

Important dates:

• Pre-registration deadline: September 30, 2018
• Second announcement/Programme: October 31, 2018
• Registration: January 31, 2019
• Training course: May 13-16, 2019

Please donwload the first announcement of the training course with this link.

For further information please contact the Coordinator (Tatiana Duranova tatiana.duranova@vuje.sk) or the NERIS Secretariat (sec@eu-neris.net).

The CONFIDENCE Project, funded under the H2020 CONCERT project, is performing research focused on uncertainties in the area of emergency management and long-term rehabilitation. It concentrates on the early and transition phases of an emergency, but considers also longer-term decisions made during these phases. The project brings together expertise from four European Radiation Protection Research Platforms (NERIS, MELODI, ALLIANCE and EURADOS) and also from Social Sciences and Humanities.

Objectives of the workshop:
• to disseminate the knowledge acquired and to demonstrate the capability of the developed models, methods, approaches, guides, recommendations and tools, 
• to collect feedback from end users on outputs and remaining research requirements or improvements in models/guides etc. as a feedback to the Platforms to further develop their Strategic Research Agendas and Joint roadmap.

We are pleased to announce that the first announcement is now available for download  : download the first announcement. You will find information on registration and accommodation.

An online pre-registration form will be soon available on the website.

Stakeholder engagement is now recognized as an essential ingredient in the governance of radiological risk. But how is stakeholder engagement achieved? Whom should it include and why? How can it inform radiation protection practices and decision making? This workshop provides an opportunity to discuss these and related questions, with the aim of stimulating more effective and democratic governance of radiological risks. Three fields will be examined in detail: medical exposures to ionizing radiation, post-accident exposures, and exposure to indoor radon.

Workshop Aims:
• To share findings from the ENGAGE project;
• To collect feedback on recommendations for enhanced stakeholder participation in the abovementioned fields

We are pleased to announce that the first announcement is now available for download  : download the first announcement. You will find information on the workshop format, registration and accommodation.

An online registration form will be soon available on the ENGAGE website and shared on the NERIS website.

Introduction on approaches to deal with uncertainty information within the decision-making process in nuclear emergency

In emergency management the uncertainty information on the current situation, or its predicted evolution, is an intrinsic problem for decision making. CONFIDENCE aims to improve decision making through the development of approaches to deal with uncertainty information, and to communicate them in such a way that decisions can be made in a more robust manner, reflecting the variability and complexity of the real situation and the decision makers’ preferences. Decision making principles are investigated, ranging from formal decision aiding techniques to simulation based approaches. The training seminar includes an introduction on the NERIS European Platform, on the CONFIDENCE Project and on the approaches based on multi-criteria decision analysis and on the agent based model.
Participants will be involved in the panel discussion on how to deal with uncertainties in decision making and on the benefits of stakeholders involvement in the use of uncertainty information.

You can download here:
• The final programme of the workshop
• The presentations made during the workshop

For more information please contact the Coordinator Marie Claire Cantone, marie.cantone@unimi.it or the event Secretariat Salvatore Gallo, salvatore.gallo@unimi.it

Stakeholder engagement is now recognized as an essential ingredient in the governance of radiological risk. But how is stakeholder engagement achieved? Whom should it include and why? How can it inform radiation protection practices and decision making? This workshop provides an opportunity to discuss these and related questions, with the aim of stimulating more effective and democratic governance of radiological risks. Three fields will be examined in detail: medical exposures to ionizing radiation, post-accident exposures, and exposure to indoor radon.

Workshop Aims:
• To share findings from the ENGAGE project;
• To collect feedback on recommendations for enhanced stakeholder participation in the abovementioned fields

We are pleased to announce that the first announcement is now available for download  : download the first announcement. You will find information on the workshop format, registration and accommodation.

To register online, please use the following link:

• Registration to the ENGAGE final workshop