Management of the post-accidental situation applied to Nogent-sur-Seine nuclear power plant environment. First results of the “decontamination of soil and food chain" working group

Abstract

Abstract. From the beginning of 2002, Troyes prefecture has initiated a study about the management of a nuclear crisis caused by an accident at the Nogent-sur-Seine nuclear power plant. Several working groups were created, notably the "Decontamination of soil and food chain" group.The first results of this group, which involves the District Agricultural and Forestry Department, the Farming Chamber, the Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety and the Veterinary Division are presented here.The scenario that had been developed for the accident considers the release of 3 radionuclides ( 131 I, 134 Cs and 137 Cs) in the environment. The scale of the crisis didn't require the evacuation and the sheltering of the population during the emergency phase.The consequences on the local agricultural products (cereal, sugar beet, vine, milk, cow meat…) have been assessed up to 50 km and different strategies of agricultural countermeasures have been studied regarding to the local constraints (soil types, surfaces and quantities concerned) and to the consequences of their implementation (waste types and quantities, costs). Then, decision-making diagrams summed up the technical results and allowed to deepen the global thought.

The STRATEGY project: decision tools to aid sustainable restoration and long-term management of contaminated agricultural ecosystems

“…It has also emphasised the importance of not prioritising on which countermeasure is ''best'' since there is considerable variation in the evaluations by the national stakeholder groups (e.g. compare the evaluations by the French Me´tivier et al, 2005) and Finnish groups (Rantavaara et al, 2005, this issue). The compendium for agricultural countermeasures and rural waste disposal options is being taken forward by the FAO/IAEA for adaptation to other climate types.…”