Towards a shared understanding
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Towards a shared understanding How Decision Con ferencing helped structure decision problems in the
International Chernobyl Project
Simon French, Neale Kelly and Mary Morrey
The severe nuclear accident which occurred at
Chernobyl in 1986 has had many consequences. A reactor was completely destroyed, releasing radionuclides and radioactive debris for about 10 days.
Vast tracts of land were contaminated, requiring
countermeasures both within the USSR and in other countries in the northern hemisphere. At the request of the Soviet Authorities an international project was organised in 1990 to investigate some of the accident's consequences and its effects on the popula-
tion still living in the region. Seven international
agencies participated, co-ordinated by the International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA). Specifically, the Soviet request was for: "..an international experts' assessment of the concept which the USSR has evolved to enable the population to live safely in areas affected by radioactive contamination following the Chernobyl accident, and an evaluation of the effectiveness of the steps taken in these areas to safeguard the health of the population."
The Project tackled its task in a number of ways. Groups of radiation scientists checked the measurements of contamination made by the Russians; doctors looked at the current health of the affected
populations and compared them with control populations distant from Chernobyl; agricultural scientists looked at farming methods in the regions; radiation
scientists estimated relocation of populations and other protective measures (e.g. food restrictions) which might be applied. lt was in relation to this last
investigation that the use of decision conferencing described here was made.
This article focuses on the organisation and running of five decision conferences. lt does not report the conclusions: those are available elsewhere. Rather
¡t suggests that the process of decision conferencing may be useful not just for guiding decision making a priori, but also for the posteriori investigation of the
reasoning behind recently taken decisions. In the next section some background on the circumstances
prevailing in the affected region are provided.
Subsequent sections introduce briefly the process of decision conferencing, describe the organisation of
the five conferences that were run in the Soviet
Union and report their success as a group interview
technique.
The Social and Political Background In many ways the Chernobyl accident could not
have happened at a worse place or at a worse time. lt happened when the USSR was in the midst of an enormous political and social upheaval. Glasnost, with its freeing of information and openness of public
debate, Perestroika, economic decline, moves
towards democracy and the growing independence of the Republics were all taking place.
Information on the accident was first withheld, and then released to populations, who had yet to gain the experience to assimilate facts and judge open debates on issues whic
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