NERIS is the European platform on preparedness for nuclear and radiological emergency response and recovery. Created in 2010 with 57 organisations from 28 different countries, the objectives of the platform are to: improve the effectiveness and coherency of current approaches to preparedness; identify further development needs; improve 'know how' and technical expertise; and establish a forum for dialogue and methodological development. The NERIS Strategic Research Agenda is now structured with three main challenges: (i) radiological impact assessments during all phases of nuclear and radiological events; (ii) countermeasures and countermeasure strategies in emergency and recovery, decision support, and disaster informatics; and (iii) setting up a multi-faceted framework for preparedness for emergency response and recovery. The Fukushima accident has highlighted some key issues for further consideration in NERIS research activities, including: the importance of transparency of decision-making processes at local, regional, and national levels; the key role of access to environmental monitoring; the importance of dealing with uncertainties in assessment and management of the different phases of the accident; the use of modern social media in the exchange of information; the role of stakeholder involvement processes in both emergency and recovery situations; considerations of societal, ethical, and economic aspects; and the reinforcement of education and training for various actors. This paper emphasises the main issues at stake for NERIS for post-accident management.

Created in 2010, the aim of the NERIS platform is to establish a forum for dialogue and methodological development among all organisations and associations taking part in decision-making of protective actions in nuclear and radiological emergencies and recovery in Europe. The objectives of the platform are to contribute to improving the effectiveness of current approaches for preparedness, promoting more coherent approaches, identifying gaps and need for further developments, addressing new and emerging challenges, and maintaining and improving know-how and technical expertise in this field. This paper describes the missions, the organisation and the activities of the platform as well as the key components of its strategic research agenda.

Recommendations and requirements for the management of foodstuffs including drinking water and feedstuffs (but not other commodities) contaminated after a nuclear accident or a radiological event have been developed by international bodies such as Codex Alimentarius Commission or European Union as well as by individual countries. However, the experience from severe nuclear accidents (Chernobyl, Fukushima) and less serious radiological events, shows that the implementation of such systems (based on criteria expressed in activity concentration) seems to be not fully suitable to prevent several difficulties such as, for instance, stigmatization and even rejection attitudes from consumers or retailers (anticipating the fears of consumers). To further investigate the possible strategies and stakeholder expectations to deal with this sensitive issue, a study has been launched within the European research project PREPARE-WP3. The overall objective of this work, coordinated is to contribute to the development of strategies, guidance and tools for the management of the contaminated products, taking into account the views of producers, processing and retail industries and consumers. For this purpose, 10 stakeholder panels from different European countries have been set up. In addition, feedback experience from the management of contaminated goods following the Fukushima accident has been provided by Japanese stakeholders. This paper highlights the key topics tackled by the different European stakeholders' panels.

In this report, the Commission provides updated guidance on radiological protection against radon exposure. The report has been developed considering the latest ICRP recommendations for the system of radiological protection, all available scientific knowledge about the risks of radon, and the experience gained by many organisations and countries in the control of radon exposure. The report describes the characteristics of radon exposure, covering sources and transfer mechanisms, the health risks associated with radon, and the challenges of managing radon exposure. The Commission recommends an integrated approach for controlling radon exposure, relying as far as possible on the management of buildings or locations in which radon exposure occurs, whatever the use of the building. This approach is based on the optimisation principle, and is graded reflecting the responsibilities of key stakeholders, notably in workplaces, and the intent of the national authorities to control radon exposure. The report also provides recommendations on managing radon exposure when workers’ exposures are considered as occupational, and the appropriate requirements of the Commission should be applied.

Survey: Knowledge level of the population about radon in Switzerland. In 1995, a survey was conducted in order to investigate levels of knowledge about radon among the Swiss population. In 2008, a second survey, using a similar methodology, was carried out by the FOPH. The new study showed that about 40% of the Swiss population has heard of radon, which represents an increase of 8% over the 1995 survey. Most of the respondents knew that radon causes lung cancer, but believed that the gas also produces other health effects - in particular, migraine and skin conditions. In addition, older people, those with a high level of education and property owners tended to be more familiar with the radon issue than the public at large. The inhabitants of high-risk regions achieved markedly better results, which demonstrate that information campaigns in these regions have been successful. At the same time, additional communication efforts are required in low- and medium- risk municipalities, where the majority of the population lives.

The protection of the populations in emergency and post-accidental situations in Switzerland.The present paper addresses in the first place the general intervention scheme set up in Switzerland in order to tackle a radiological emergency. Thereby only the general lines are presented, without entering into details which are too specific and therefore of little interest in the context of this article. Furthermore some particular problems will be evoked that are associated with the intervention. These have given cause for discussions while implementing the intervention concept.

Determination of gamma-ray activity in soil by in-situ spectrometry with portable high purity germanium detectors is highly dependent on the nature of the site and the source distribution in the soil. Disturbances of the model distribution of radionuclides related to ground irregularities, incidence angle of the particles transporting activity at the time of contamination and plant cover affect the accuracy of the interpretation of the measurements. The effects of these disturbances on the different distributions currently used in spectrometry are analysed in this paper. It appears that in the initial stage of deposition, as the contamination is mainly on the surface, the contribution of these disturbances is not negligible. Later, however, the transfer of the radionuclides in the soil switches off significantly the contribution of distant regions from the detector. Its effective field is therefore reduced, and, thus, the effects of inhomogeneities related to disturbing factors vanish with time. As a result, irregularities of the order of a few centimetres are sufficient to decrease the measured fluence by a factor of two for a surface activity, and a penetration of the nuclides of about 1 cm in soil reduces the radius of the detector effective field from 100m to 30m.

This work presents the radioactivity monitoring programme in Switzerland. Environmental radioactivity measurements for atomic bomb test fallout are discussed together with the radiation doses to the public caused by fallout. In the second part the monitoring programme around nuclear power stations is presented. The radioactivity releases to the environment, the results of the monitoring programme and the radiation doses to the public in the vicinity of the plants are discussed.

The multi-disciplinary expert appraisal by the Nord-Cotentin Radioecology Group provided results that were published in 1999 and essentially related to: the inventory of the radioactive releases from local nuclear facilities, critical review of measurements made in the environment, models of transfer of radionuclides through the environment, estimation of doses and associated leukaemia risks. In view of the unavoidable uncertainties of a retrospective study, the Group developed an evolving system for integrating new knowledge and results. The initiative of the local "Angry Mothers" to organise an international measurement campaign in the north of the Cotentin peninsula is perfectly consistent with this approach. The goal is to establish a radiological baseline corresponding to the existing situation by means of the following investigations, depending on the possibilities of the laboratories involved: