The impact of the Chernobyl accident on Norway

As the fallout from the atmospheric nuclear weapons tests gradually decreased during the 1970s, the national preparedness and analytical capacity in Norway gradually disintegrated as well. The Chernobyl accident was therefore met without any overall contingency preparedness plan. The affected governmental bodies and other institutions had to improvise their first steps, including information to the public, until necessary coordination had been established. A complicating factor was the change of government during the first days of May 1986, the reasons for this had however nothing to do with the reactor accident. A great deal of uncertainty prevailed about the accident and its consequences especially during the first days after the accident. The Ministry of Health and Social Affairs and the Ministry of the Environment in May 1986 both appointed committees to report on the accident and its impacts and on a future preparedness system, although their terms of reference were not identical. A third committee was appointed in June by the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs to report on the information crises in connection with the accident