Nordic nuclear safety research program 1994-1997. Project coordination incl. SAM-4 general information issues. Report 1996. Plans for 1997

NKS (Nordic Nuclear Safety Research) is a cooperative body in nuclear safety, radiation protection and emergency preparedness. Its purpose is to carry out cost-effective Nordic projects, thus producing research results, exercises, information, recommendations, manuals etc., to be used by decision makers and other concerned staff members at authorities and within the nuclear industry. This is the annual report for 1996, the third year of the fifth four-year NKS program (1994-1997). The report also contains plans for the rest of the program period, including budget proposals. The following major fields of research have been identified: reactor safety; radioactive waste; radioecology; emergency preparedness; and information issues. A total of nine projects are now under way within that framework. One project (RAK-1) is dedicated to reactor safety strategies: how to avoid serious accidents. A parallel project (RAK-2) deals with minimizing releases in case of an accident. When can an overheated reactor core still be water-cooled? What might be the consequences of the cooling? All Nordic countries have long-lived low and medium level radioactive waste that requires final disposal. One project (AFA-1) addresses that issue. Environmental impact of radioactive releases is studied in two radioecology projects. The project on marine radioecology, including sediment research (EKO-1), encompasses sampling, analysis and modeling. These are also key issues in the project on long ecological half-lives in semi-natural systems (EKO-2). The transfer of radioactive cesium and strontium in the chains soil - vegetation - sheep and mushroom - roe deer is studied, along with freshwater systems. Long-term doses to main is the ultimate output from the obtained models. Another aspect of environmental impact is emergency preparedness. A recently started project, EKO-5, addresses the issue of early planning for cleanup operations following a fallout. 'Early' in this context means within the first three weeks. Some of the technical projects involve contacts or cooperation with countries in eastern Europe and international support programs in the region. (EG)