Enhancing Preparedness is Key for Post-Accident Recovery First Conclusions From Dedicated OECD/NEA Expert Groups

Large nuclear accidents cause major changes that are accident-specific, environment-specific and land-specific and are evolving in space and time. These changes impact the lives of a large number of residents of the affected territories by impacting the environment and disrupting the socio-economic fabric of the society, making recovery management an extremely complex process of a multidisciplinary dimension. A key aspect that has been identified to improve the recovery process after a nuclear accident by the Nuclear Energy Agency Committee of Radiological Protection and Public Health (CRPPH) is to advance preparedness, focusing on a holistic multidimensional approach, that will incorporate functional cross-sectoral links between various aspects of emergency impact on a society (e.g., health, environment, economy, social and cultural aspects). This topic is addressed by the Expert Group on Recovery Management (EGRM) created in 2019, by producing guidance on how to develop a nuclear or radiological post-accident recovery management framework which can be adapted to national conditions and as such, can contribute to assist NEA member countries to plan and improve their preparedness for response and for medium to long-term recovery.