Peiling nationale kennisbehoefte straling en nucleaire veiligheid

Abstract

In a report issued in 2008, the Health Council of the Netherlands noted that the scientific knowledge on radiation protection was seriously in decline. This statement is still valid nowadays. It is therefore important to collate existing radiation knowledge, to make state-of-the-art expertise available to government and society and to acquire more knowledge. This is the main conclusion of a survey, conducted in 2018, to measure the national knowledge requirements for the fields of radiation protection, nuclear safety and security. The majority of people that responded to the survey found it not only important to retain a decent level of knowledge of the subject matter, but they also pointed out that there is a growing demand for knowledge and tools to improve the dialogue with the public on these matters. The respondents were of the opinion that the public’s knowledge of radiation and its (dis)advantages is generally very poor. They mentioned two ways to improve this: (1) through appropriate education, from elementary school to vocational training, and (2) by providing easily accessible knowledge suited for various target groups. An independent Knowledge Centre, with ties to organisations with different perspectives on the subject, could realize the latter. They also took the view that the international scientific position of the Netherlands is insufficient in the fields of radiation protection, nuclear safety and security: they recommended that the Netherlands should distinguish itself internationally on a few carefully chosen research topics.

These findings were drawn from the results of a questionnaire, distributed in 2017-2018 under a heterogeneous group of approximately hundred people with senior level involvement in these matters. The questionnaire was designed by a joint working group from the Technical University Delft (TUD), the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) and the Netherlands Forensic Institute (NFI), in response to a request from a group of stakeholders from the nuclear industry, the medical world, the government, knowledge institutes and emergency response agencies. More than 50 people responded to the questionnaire. The preliminary results were discussed within a small group of respondents with various backgrounds. The final results of this survey, as described in this report, form an appropriate starting point for a programme of improvement, which has yet to be established.