An exercise of stakeholders' involvement and multi-criteria decision aid for radioactively contaminated milk

摘要: This paper focuses on a multi-criteria structuring process with stakeholders participation and illustrates its findings from a questionnaire conducted in the Belgian context. A multidisciplinary approach is adopted, which follows the practical problem in parallel with the methodological steps of multi-criteria decision aid. The chosen case study regards the countermeasures for the management of radioactively contaminated milk. This is motivated by the importance of milk in the food chain and the rapid transfer to milk of some radionuclides, such as{sup 131}I or {sup 137}Cs. The time framework addressed covers the early to intermediate phases of a radiological emergency. In case of milk, the limited storage facilities, as well as the constraints on the storage time of the fresh product (maximum 72 hours) lead to a certain time pressure on the decision process. The purpose of our analysis is twofold: on the one hand to provide support in case of a real crisis, but most importantly, to improve emergency preparedness and response and to facilitate exercises and training. The stakeholders interviewed range from real decision makers to representatives of the production and processing sectors. As expected, the points of view are sometimes divergent and therefore the results of the questionnaire are discussed and suggestions are formulated for conciliating the various points of view that come into play. The type of stakeholders process carried out is expected to ensure a higher degree of acceptability of the methodologies and tools employed. In the last section, provisional conclusions are drawn and directions for further development are envisaged. (N.C.)