The new recommendations on emergency exposure situations of the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) advise a reference level for the residual dose in a range of between 20 and 100 mSv effective dose (acute or per year). At the same time, the protection strategy should account for the simultaneous consideration of all the exposure pathways, as well as all of the protective actions. Similarly to other countries, the actual Belgian nuclear emergency plan is based on individual projected doses (thyroid committed dose and total effective doses) and independent protective actions that mainly focus on the early phase of an emergency situation. The two approaches are compared in this study on the basis of the projected and residual dose calculations obtained using JRODOS and the Belgian Noodplan models for different radiological or nuclear accidental scenarios. The comparison has been made by considering separately the early and the late phase contributions. The ingestion dose has been investigated from the predicted deposition values and compared to the single level of the ICRP 109 recommendations.

Three handbooks have been developed, in conjunction with a wide range of stakeholders to assist in the management of contaminated food production systems, inhabited areas and drinking water following a radiological incident. The handbooks are aimed at national and local authorities, central government departments and agencies, emergency services, radiation protection experts, the agriculture and food production sectors, industry and others who may be affected. The handbooks include management options for application in the different phases of an incident. Sources of contamination considered in the handbooks include nuclear accidents and radiological dispersion devices; the most relevant radionuclides are included. The handbooks are divided into several sections which provide supporting scientific and technical information; an analysis of the factors influencing recovery; compendia of comprehensive, state-of-the-art datasheets for around 100 management options and guidance on planning in advance. A decision-aiding framework comprising colour coded selection tables, look-up tables and decision trees and several worked examples are also included. The handbooks can be used as a preparatory tool, under non-crisis conditions, to engage stakeholders and to develop local and regional plans. The handbooks can also be applied as part of the decision-aiding process to develop a recovery strategy following an incident. In addition, the handbooks are useful for training purposes and during emergency exercises. To realise their full potential, the handbooks should be customised at national, regional and local levels.

Generic guidance on the withdrawal of sheltering, withdrawal of evacuation and evacuation of sheltered populations (displacement) has been developed based on previously unpublished work in the UK and France and on input from stakeholder panels in Germany, Belgium, France and the UK. The guidance is a living document that can be developed further in the future, both in its generic form and also as customised versions in some Member States. The guidance outlines the many factors which influence the withdrawal of emergency countermeasures: official confirmation that any release has stopped; adequacy of monitoring data; radiological criteria; radiological protection advice; availability of resources; social and psychological needs; stakeholder dialogue; and communication strategy. The relative importance placed by decision makers on each of these criteria would vary according to the nature and scale of the accident and also on socio-political, economic and cultural perspectives. In the event of a radiological incident, decision makers will need to be in a position to construct a strategy for managing the withdrawal of emergency countermeasures. For larger scale, longer duration releases involving several nuclides, a management strategy is likely to be complex. The guidance therefore includes a series of checklists which have been developed in conjunction with stakeholders to take into account the main criteria and factors which should be considered.