Recommendations of the european project, PREPARE, on communication in nuclear accidents

Communication is one of the most important issues in case of a nuclear emergency. These situations are extremely complex when involving multiple actors and sensitive issues of sanitary, environmental, economic, social, cultural or ethical type, and it is necessary to recognize that hardly They can be framed, controlled or governed by traditional mechanisms. Therefore, one of The large areas covered in the PREPARE project of the 7th European Framework Program have been focused in this matter, addressing several aspects related to it: on the one hand, the interaction between networks of experts during the emergency and in the post-emergency; on the other, the information and participation of affected populations and on the other global communication through the media Traditional and social networks. The project has been based on the analysis of the experience after the Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents in different countries, with the main objective of extraction of lessons to improve the preparation of communication mechanisms against futures accidental events. Among the numerous recommendations obtained from the project, it should be noted that it would be necessary to prepare the conditions for constructive interactions from now on among all relevant agents. The various actors can provide support or, on the contrary, create obstacles in the dynamics of social recovery: public authorities, experts, NGOs, initiatives citizens, professionals, international institutions, ... everyone will have something to say and communication Among them is a fundamental factor. Opportunities such as the organization of emergency drills, exchanging experiences on particular topics (for example, the post-Fukushima context), using tools that facilitate interactions between experts and creating alliances between the actors of the institutions, the scientists and experts and the journalists. Should also involve other recognized professionals (for example, doctors or educators) who can validate messages, contextualize and make sense of technical information for the local population, thus providing great support to build mutual trust.