4. Conclusions and outlook

Crisis doctrines and organizations for radiological emergencies are well defined in France. They have been tested during crisis exercises and, although the level of preparation achieved today seems satisfactory, they need to be further improved, particularly with regard to the handling of events occurring outside nuclear facilities.

Furthermore, despite the lessons learned from real crises abroad, notably in the United States and the former USSR, the absence of any major nuclear accident in France has undoubtedly limited awareness of the need to improve our level of preparedness in certain aspects of radiological emergency management, particularly in terms of communication and the involvement or training of the highest government authorities.

Until recently, this state of affairs probably also limited awareness in most countries, particularly...