Frontline

["J. J. Rozental" <josrozen@netmedia.net.il>]

We do not have the right to shake our heads at the people who were freighted
to the point of hysteria  and panic, when they found themselves helpless,
facing dangers unknown to them. The fact that it is not possible to see,
feel, hear or smell radioactivity, makes nuclear energy a very difficult
science for the art  of communication. 
How many among the society in the world, considering developed and
developing countries, know how really to access the danger of radiation? --
How many were afraid and worried in their ignorance? -- And still they are.
What  is the reaction of the more or less ignorant population when read  the
two following   topics:

1 -  The effects of  large doses of radiation on human health are well
understood and such doses are clearly hazardous;

2 - The low doses delivered over period of months or years provoke   risks
of malignant diseases, as leukemia or  cancer that may appear years or
decades after exposure. 

	I have being working in nuclear energy for more than 35 years and until now
I feel that  the citizens of many countries do not believe in the
Authorities they should to believe. There are not enough mediators to link
knowledgeable expert opinion and the more or less ignorant population.

How people can understand expressions like Becquerel, Sievert, Stochastic,
Non-Stochastic, deterministic, probabilistic and others unusual words to the
population. 
One day, in Goiania, managing the Radiological accident, one journalist
asked me if the victims were considered radioactive waste, and be buried at
the repository site,  since the population reaction was against to accept
the bodies to be buried in the cemetery. On this question I spent about half
hour explaining. When I finished, he told me: I understood however, frankly
speaking, Competent Authorithy should to understand the people's panic.
Unfortunately for the  population nuclear communications are expressed by
means of  abstract words.

I replied to him: if nuclear communications are expressed by means of
abstract words, it is your obligation to inform to the Competent Authority
through the press, however, should be noted at this point  that is also  the
task of the journalist media to acquaint the public with the scientific
world, without distorting the contents and messages. 

 Now going to just one  of the conclusions of the "One Decade After
Chernobyl"  we can learn from its psychological consequences:

"The psychological effects of the Chernobyl accident resulted from the lack
of public information, particularly immediately after the accident, the
stress and trauma of relocation, the braking of social ties, and the fear
that any radiation exposure is damaging and could damage people's health and
their children's health in the future. It is understandable that people who
were not told the truth for several years after the accident continue to be
skeptical of official statements and to believe that illnesses of all kinds
that now seem more prevalent must be due to radiation. The distress caused
by this misperception of radiation is extremely harmful to people"

So many organization problems, in the past and still in the present, so many
difficulty to cross over, lack of international information about recent
accidents with fatalities,  altogether exaggerate the emotions beyond the
reasoble, and this is an appetizing dish for anti-nuke.

Finally, the last  International Basic Safety Standards for Protection
against Ionizing Radiation and for the Safety of Radiation Sources, Safety
Series I-115, INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY - IAEA, 1994 introduced the
concept of Safety Culture, "The assembly of characteristics and attitudes in
organizations and individuals which establishes that, as an overriding
priority, protection and safety issues receive the attention warranted by
their significance".

I suggest an  International Conference on "Safety Culture and Responsibilities"
Main subjects:
Safety Culture and Human Behavior
Safety Culture and Lessons Learned
Safety Culture and Psychological Experience Gained 
Safety Culture and Regulators
Safety Culture and Supporting Organizations
Safety Culture and Information Dissemination
Safety Culture and Media
		
No discussion on technical aspects. It became clear that the fundamental
problems are people-related problems and not equipment problems. (Exclusion
Countries of the Former Soviet Union), where equipment are problems.

J. J. Rozental
Consultant, Radiation Safety and Regulation
for Developing Countries