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An emergency situation is subject to multiple sources of uncertainties which should be identified in advance in order to improve the emergency and recovery management, and so optimally foster the living conditions of the population and the quality of their environment. In this context, the Work Package 4 of the European Research Project CONFIDENCE aimed at identifying and reducing uncertainties which could emerge in decision-making processes, in order to improve the preparedness and response after a nuclear accident. To that end, stakeholder panels have been set up in several European countries to collect their views and concerns regarding the decisions to be taken in the event of a nuclear crisis (e.g. evacuation, food restrictions, etc.). More particularly, the implementation of these panels allowed the researchers to (i) identify the main uncertainties that may hamper decision-making processes and to (ii) evaluate the influence of prior decisions made during the emergency phase over the medium to long-term evolution of the situation. Based on these discussions, the various types of uncertainties raised by the national panels have been analysed in order to suggest recommendations to better consider them and to improve the decision-making processes. This paper aims to detail the recommendations resulting from the panels discussions.

Under the framework of the CONFIDENCE project, work package 4 was focusing on the transition to long-term recovery, involving stakeholders in decision-making processes. The essential research was performed using a participatory approach, which combined scenario-based stakeholder discussion panels and transnational stakeholder surveys following the Delphi methodology. The objective was to identify and address the issues and uncertainties arising in the preparedness and management of the transition phase and to explore ways to facilitate the incorporation of stakeholders' expertise, points of view and interests in the decision-making processes. The final goal was to build best practices for planning optimal remediation strategies during the transition phase considering stakeholder involvement in the decision-making process. The results obtained from the work undertaken in nine European countries are presented.

A literature review has been conducted to investigate the extent to which the uncertainty on atmospheric dispersion models’ various input variables has an effect on the models’ outputs, and in particular to determine which input variables are most influential in the sense of giving rise to the largest uncertainties on those outputs. The wide range of models, parameters and scenarios uncovered in the review meant that it was difficult to make a meaningful comparison among them; however, certain patterns were apparent. Consequently, rather than determining a quantitative ranking, parameters have been grouped into approximate categories according to the influence their uncertainties might have on modelling results.

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. © EDP Sciences 2016.

New results on transverse mass spectra of neutral pions measured at central rapidity are presented for impact parameter selected 200 AGeV S + S and S + Au collisions. The spectra from all systems show a clear power-law like shape with similar curvature. Collisions of S + Au exhibit a larger mean transverse momentum than pp increasing with centrality. Predictions of string models and by hydrodynamic approaches including collective expansion and decays of short lived resonances are compared to the data and the implications are discussed. New results on transverse mass spectra of neutral pions measured at central rapidity are presented for impact parameter selected 200 AGeV S + S and S + Au collisions. The spectra from all systems show a clear power-law like shape with similar curvature. Collisions of S + Au exhibit a larger mean transverse momentum than pp increasing with centrality. Predictions of string models and by hydrodynamic approaches including collective expansion and decays of short lived resonances are compared to the data and the implications are discussed.