Management of Nuclear Risk Issues: Environmental, Financial and Safety (NREFS)

d1981d6f-c002-419e-985d-e8bfa3fb5f3b

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EPSRC
EPSRC
EPSRC
EPSRC
EPSRC

£2,429,125

Dec. 1, 2012

Nov. 30, 2014

The NREFS research programme will use the extensive data on post-accident contamination and doses from the Chernobyl accident as a guide to its evaluation of mitigation options following a possible large-scale accident in the future. New data from Fukushima will be used as they are reported.

Post-accident mitigation will then be considered in the four national contexts: Ukraine/Belarus, Japan, India and the UK using a variety of objective decision making techniques, including the new J-value technique, the JT-value method (both developed further under the EPSRC/ESRC SPRIng programme), real options and portfolio theory. Then scenario-based multi-criteria decision analysis will be used to investigate differences between recommendations from the objective methods and decisions being taken on the ground.

Recommendations from the various methods will be discussed with the Indian partners, including the Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission, who will provide a conduit for rapid implementation in the Indian nuclear industry of valuable new ideas as they arise from the research.

Meanwhile the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee will be asked to consider running a briefing event for MPs and peers based on output from the NREFS project. This will offer a route to policy influence for valuable new research findings in the UK.

Potential Impact:
The project forms part of the UK-India Civil Nuclear Collaboration ongoing between the RCUK Energy Programme and India's Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), with the institutes sponsored by DAE including the Bhabha Atomic Research Centre and the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research.

The problem addressed, namely planning for post-accident mitigation following a large nuclear accident such as Fukushima, is of high and international importance.

The Secretary of the DAE, will be a member of the UK-India project team for NREFS. He will provide a conduit for rapid implementation in the Indian nuclear industry of valuable new ideas as they arise from the research.

A high-level final workshop will be held at City University, London to publicise the results. This will involve not only UK and Indian partners but also senior staff from the European nuclear industry. Invitations will be offered to EDF and Areva, for example, as well as to the Nuclear Industry Association. This will offer a route to industry implementation of valuable new ideas from the research.

The Parliamentary and Scientific Committee will be asked to consider running a briefing event for MPs and peers based on output from the NREFS project. This will offer a route to policy influence for valuable new research findings.

It is expected that the NREFS project will generate a large number of papers in journals and at international conferences. Publication in a scientific journal followed by coverage in the press provides a well-proven route to more general appreciation of important results such as will be produced by NREFS. The PI's, Prof. Thomas's findings on risk issues have been covered by both broadsheets and the popular press, and he has given several radio and television interviews. Co-Investigator Dr Nuttall has had similar experience of talking to the media. It is planned that important and news-worthy items arising from NREFS research will be given similar exposure.