Joint research towards a better radiation protection-highlights of the Fifth MELODI Workshop.

MELODI is the European platform dedicated to low-dose radiation risk research. From 7 October through 10 October 2013 the Fifth MELODI Workshop took place in Brussels, Belgium. The workshop offered the opportunity to 221 unique participants originating from 22 countries worldwide to update their knowledge and discuss radiation research issues through 118 oral and 44 poster presentations. In addition, the MELODI 2013 workshop was reaching out to the broader radiation protection community, rather than only the low-dose community, with contributions from the fields of radioecology, emergency and recovery preparedness, and dosimetry. In this review, we summarise the major scientific conclusions of the workshop, which are important to keep the MELODI strategic research agenda up-to-date and which will serve to establish a joint radiation protection research roadmap for the future.

Achievements, difficulties and future challenges for the FARMING network.

The EC FARMING network (Food and Agriculture Restoration Management Involving Networked Groups) was set up to bring together the many and diverse stakeholders who would be involved in intervention following wide scale radioactive contamination of the food chain, so that acceptable strategies can be developed for maintaining agricultural production and safe food supply. The network comprises stakeholder panels in the UK, Finland, Belgium, France and Greece that have met regularly since 2001 to debate, discuss and exchange opinion on the acceptability, constraints and impact of various countermeasure options and strategies. The objectives of this paper are to consolidate the main achievements of the FARMING project over the period 2000-2004, to highlight the various difficulties that were encountered and to discuss the challenges for engaging stakeholders in off-site emergency management and long-term rehabilitation in the future.

[Details in relation to emergency planning in case of undesired dispersion of radioactivity]. / Bijzonderheden in verband met noodplanning in het geval van een ongewenste verspreiding van radioactiviteit.

In the present context of terrorist threat and the multiple uses of radioactive sources for many applications, one cannot exclude the probability of a contamination with radioactive products in the public domain. The most probable scenario is the loss or theft of a source, or a source showing up in some unexpected location (orphan sources). Terrorist actions may lead to a similar problem (radiological dispersion devices, RDD). If the radiological situation is serious, the Belgian emergency plan will be declared, aiming at protecting the population as adequately as possible. However, the emergency plan has mainly been conceived for an accident in a nuclear facility; as exercises are organised frequently and as the technical possibilities can be studied in advance, the experts are better prepared for such accidents. But a radioactive contamination in some other location would lead to modifications to be made, which may result in less effective response. Indeed, the very first stage--an alert--will presumably be missing. Or the contamination may occur in a town not involved in radiological emergency exercises, leading to a local lack of means. The main concern is that this should not lead to a degradation of the response. It is essential that all decision makers at all levels know how to deal with the situation, or at least know whom to call for support (Mayors, emergency workers) A special focus on medical staff who could be involved with potentially strong (yet local) fields of radiation, injured people with contamination, but also (and presumably especially) with the psychological impact of large groups of population feeling concerned about the potential health or societal (and economic) consequences for themselves or their children. Whether the probability of such an event is large in Belgium or not is in that sense less relevant: the probability surely isn't zero, and as such an adapted preparation scheme is absolutely necessary.

Radiological protective measures in highly industrialized areas: do the existing intervention levels apply?

Several international organizations have provided numerical guidance on the intervention levels for protective measures in case of a nuclear accident. The resulting intervention levels, however, are generic in nature and allow for (and even require) adjustment to site-specific conditions. As interventions in highly industrialized areas may result in important economic losses and potential secondary risks for the workers and the environment, we argue that the appropriate intervention levels for evacuating or relocating people from these areas might be higher than those generically derived. Furthermore, the optimal duration of these interventions will in general be shorter when imposed on industrial areas. The same results apply for sheltering, in case it requires a shut-down of the industrial production processes.

The assessment of plutonium and americium in contaminated wounds with high energy resolution semiconductor detectors.

A simple to use method was installed for the measurement of wounds contaminated with plutonium and americium by using a semiconductor detector. This technique does not explicitly require the knowledge of the detector efficiency but uses a plant 241Am calibration source. A computer programme has also been developed for the quantification of the contamination according to the shape and the depth of the contaminant in the wound.