METHOD AND TOOLS FOR THE RAPID EVALUATION OF THE RADIOLOGICAL CONSEQUENCES OF AN ACCIDENT

The difficulties encountered during emergency exercises, intended to e valuate releases of radioactivity into the environment, have led Elect ricite de France to develop, in collaboration with the Institute for N uclear Safety and Protection, a method and simple tools intended speci fically for local emergency teams. The method on which the tools are b ased has a three-step structure, and involves: determining from the ou tset of the accident the upper bound of foreseeable releases; followin g the development of the releases using the measuring circuit fitted i n the stack; interpreting the readings taken in the environment. The t ools consist of a 'paper' document and a computer software package ava ilable on every nuclear power plant. Moreover, other developments are now in progress to improve the assessment of the radiological conseque nces of an accident at different scales (local, regional and national) .