Homeland1 ran across an important article in this month's issue of Omega that effectively differentiated "regular" emergency management from nuclear emergency management. Contingency plans for nuclear incidents, the article asserted, cannot be comprehensively drawn in advance; instead, any plan must be flexible. To that end, European nations have adopted a radiation protection framework called RODOS:

Italian firefighters take part in a simulation of a terror drill as part of a two-day training of rescue workers from NATO countries, in Monte Libretti, near Rome, Oct. 24, 2006.  (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

"The RODOS system is designed to provide consistent and comprehensive information in the event of a nuclear or radiological accident in Europe. After the nuclear accident from Chernobyl in 1986, the development of RODOS became one of the major items in the area of radiation protection of the European Commission's Framework Programs." ¹

The RODOS system is designed for enabling a seamless transition between local and regional agencies; early and later phases of an accident; all types of emergency actions and countermeasures.

Levels of decision support provided by the RODOS System:²

Level 0

Acquisition and quality checking of radiological data and their presentation, directly or with minimal evaluation, to the end-users, along with geographical and demographic information.

Level 1

Analysis and prediction of the current and future radiological situation (i.e., the distribution over space and time in the absence of countermeasures) based upon monitoring data, meteorological data and models, including information on the radioactive material released to the environment.

Level 2

Simulation of potential countermeasures (e.g., sheltering, evacuation, issue of iodine tablets, relocation, decontamination of their feasibility and quantification of their benefits and disadvantages.

Level 3

Evaluation and ranking of alternative countermeasure strategies by balancing their respective benefits and disadvantages (i.e., costs, residual dose, reduction of stress and anxiety, socio-psychological aspects, political acceptability, etc.) taking account of the judgments and preferences of decision makers.

¹Jutta Geldermann, Valentin Bertsch, Martin Treitz, Simon French, Konstantinia N. Papamichail, Raimo P. Hämäläinen.Multi-criteria decision support and evaluation of strategies for nuclear remediation management, Omega, February 2009. Elsevier Ltd. NEXIS. Available from Mead Data