Incident Command System and risk communication: reflections from nuclear emergencies

Abstract

Nuclear power plants are designed with systems dedicated to offering a high degree of protection to their workers, the population, and the environment. Between the levels of protection of the population and the environment, there is the nuclear emergency plan. This plan must contain a specific segment related to the management of risk communication to the population. Historically, risk communication techniques have emerged to minimize harm to people, through population panic control strategies. However, this issue is currently underdeveloped in Brazil in the field of nuclear safety. Thus, this work aimed to establish an initial proposal on the use of the theory of Incident Command System as a strategy for managing risk communication in the event of accidents at the Almirante Álvaro Alberto Nuclear Power Plant located in Brazil.