Investigation of the State of the Radiation Control Systems and the Actions of the Competent Authorities and the Population in the Event of a Change in the Radiation Background in Bulgaria

Abstract

After the Chernobyl and Fukushima accidents, the monitoring of radiation at a real-time and timely publishing the information about the changes in order to inform the population has a major importance nowadays. In Bulgaria this system is working since 1997 to nowadays, and over the years it has been retrofitted twice. I made a research among 38 specialists in this field, 158 others trained to operate in a nuclear, chemical or other accident and 196 randomly selected representatives from the society. The results of my survey show the state of the radioactive background control systems and the knowledge about their working process by the specialists and also the population. The number of people that are familiar with the National Automated System for Continuous Control of the Radiochemical Background and the Radiation Population Disease Forecasting System in the Event of a Major Nuclear Accident of the National Institute of Meteorology and Hydrology is extremely low. The responses to the issues of coordination of the responsible authorities and agencies give us a real picture of the population's interest in the real situation of a radiation. The picture in the assessment of the coordination between the departments which announce the changing in the radiation situation on the territory of Bulgaria is similar. Most of the people who take part into the survey did not make suggestions on improving the situation, but on the other side there are also very reasonable and argumented ones. First of all, the participants indicate an increase in the population training about the real problem and conduction of such a regular and quality exercises.

State of Radiation Protection in Bulgaria

“…I segmented the community to get more reliable information to summarize and analyze. In order to achieve the purpose, I set up a questionnaire with specific questions, and I made a preliminary study of the problem [7].…”

State of the Population Disclosure Systems in the Changing Radiation Situation in Bulgaria

“…Simultaneously with the use of the atom for peaceful purposes, over the past 2 years, there has been an increase in the development of new and advanced nuclear weapons. Even in recent months, there has been intense talk about ending the operation of the Nuclear Weapons Convention by leading world powers [1,5,8].…”

“…I segmented the community to get more reliable information to summarize and analyze. In order to achieve the purpose I set up a questionnaire with specific questions and I made a preliminary study of the problem [5].…”

“…Such an event is seen as something unrealistic, fictitious, and as impossible happen in Bulgaria. Older people are more concerned about the problem than young people [5]. In responding, respondents with a higher level of education are more interested in the affected aspects of everyday life and are at least partially aware of the problems related to radiation protection, while those with secondary and lower education are ignorant and uninterested in the discussion in the consultation.…”

“…Although much of the teachings are pre-directed, it is necessary to run regularly. An example here may be the teachings of Kozloduy NPP and other enterprises [5,8]. Good examples can also be taken from other countries with well-established structures such as Russia, France, Japan and others.…”