Facilitating the Decision‐Making Process After a Nuclear Accident: Case Studies in the Netherlands and Slovakia

• Published in: Integrated environmental assessment and management 2021-03, Vol.17 (2), p.376-387
• Main Authors: Asselt, Esther D, Twenhöfel, Chris JW, Duranova, Tatiana, Smetsers, Ronald CGM, Bohunova, Jarmila, Müller, Tim
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Accidents; Case studies; Consensus; Decision Analysis; Decision Making; Decision Support Techniques; Decision‐making process; Economics; Environmental assessment; Environmental Impact Assessment; Environmental management; Integrated environmental assessment; MCDA; Meetings; Multiple criterion; Netherlands; Nuclear accident; Nuclear accidents; Nuclear accidents & safety; Phase transitions; Radioactive Hazard Release; Recovery; Slovakia; Strategy; Toxicology; Urban environments
• ISSN: 1551-3777; 1551-3793
• DOI: 10.1002/ieam.4375

ABSTRACT Nuclear accidents do not occur frequently, but their biological, psychosocial, and/or economic consequences may be severe. Hence, a thorough preparation for nuclear emergencies is needed to provide appropriate actions. During the transition phase of an accident, it is vital to include stakeholders in the decision‐making process in order to gain support for the recovery strategy to be implemented as well as to share different perspectives, knowledge, and views on the decision problem. Because nuclear accidents are complex, involving many relevant factors that range from technical aspects such as health effects and costs to nontechnical issues such as social acceptance, a multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) may facilitate the decision‐making process. The aim of this study was to investigate the usefulness of MCDA in the transition phase of a nuclear accident. To this end, an MCDA tool, which uses the weighted sum of a set of normalized criteria, was explored in exercises carried out in panel meetings with a selected set of (largely) governmental stakeholders. The panel meetings were performed in the Netherlands and the Slovak Republic. The exercises were based on a fictitious case study that affected the urban environment of a small city. Prior to the meetings, a set of 8 possible recovery strategies was identified. The use of the MCDA tool showed that it facilitated the decision‐making process because it allowed for a structured and transparent approach in which stakeholders with diverse backgrounds can express their opinions and perspectives and reach consensus on the most appropriate recovery strategy. As such, it could be applied to a broader field of research involving any chemical release that necessitates an extended recovery strategy. Future research is needed in order to incorporate psychosocial effects of a nuclear accident as well as a broader group of stakeholders in exercises. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2021;17:376–387. © 2020 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC) KEY POINTS A multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA) tool was evaluated in panel meetings in Slovakia and the Netherlands. The tool allowed for different representations of the outcome. The MCDA clearly facilitated decision making after a nuclear accident.