Considerations in the development of a protection strategy for a nuclear or radiological emergency

This publication provides practical guidance on and a stepwise approach to the development, justification and optimization of a protection strategy for a nuclear or radiological emergency, the implementation of the concepts of reference levels and generic criteria in the strategy, and the implementation of the strategy during an emergency response. The IAEA General Conference in 2018, encouraged Member States “to ensure that radiation protection strategies are developed, justified and optimized to enable effective protective actions to be taken in a timely manner, during a nuclear or radiological emergency”. Moreover, it requested the Secretariat to provide assistance, upon request, to Member States in this regard. 

This publication elaborates on the planning basis necessary to support the development of a justified and optimized protection strategy as well as on the processes of justification and optimization to be applied by responsible authorities in a State. Finally, this publication provides a template outline of a protection strategy that can be used by States when developing their protection strategy and an example of a protection strategy for postulated nuclear or radiological emergencies.