Rehabilitation of Living Conditions in Contaminated Territories: The ETHOS Approach
Thierry SCHNEIDER
CEPN,
BP 48, F-92263 Fontenay-aux-Roses Cedex, France
schneider@cepn.asso.fr
SUMMARY
The
approaches applied for the management of post-accidental situations have
revealed the
multiplicity
and interdependency of the problems at stake in such a context. These problems
are
not limited to the radiological protection dimension but are also related
to psychological,
social,
economic, political and ethical ones. In this perspective, the new challenge
for post-
accident
management is to improve the living conditions of the local population
taking
account
of all the aspects of the life and to consider the long-term issue in the
perspective of a
sustainable
development.
In
order to present and discuss these different issues concerning the rehabilitation
of living
conditions
in contaminated territories, the lecture will be focussed on the approach
developed
in
the ETHOS project. This project was implemented in a village of the Republic
of Belarus
with
the support of the radiation protection research programme of the European
Commission.
The
global approach applied in this project addressed jointly the technical
and societal
dimensions
and involved actively all stakeholders into a decentralised approach. The
expectation
was to obtain a long term commitment of all actors with a view to develop
among
the
population a concrete radiological protection culture and to promote a
rehabilitation
process
focussed on the living conditions of the local population rather than on
the
environmentally
based approach.
Concretely,
between 1996 and 1998, the approach adopted in the ETHOS project led to
the
setting
up and follow-up of working groups involving inhabitants of the village
as different as
teenagers,
young mothers, farmers, teachers or foresters. Each working group dealt
with a
specific
facet of the private or social life in the village: the radiological protection
of children,
the
management of the radiological quality of the milk production as well as
the meat
production,
the education of children to living in a contaminated environment, the
management
of contaminated wastes and the shooting of a video film by the youth of
the
village.
The
methodological steps which emerged from this approach will be discussed
in this lecture
and
will be illustrated by the experience of some of the working groups. The
main dimensions
to
be considered in the stakeholder involvement process are the following:
-
Development of respectful relationships with the affected populations and
relevant
stakeholders
-
Characterisation of the local situation in co-operation with voluntary
stakeholders
-
Construction of choices reflecting the local context and the concerns,
constraints and
values
of the affected parties
-
Development of a day-to-day radiological protection culture relying on
personal
commitment
After
a brief presentation of the results and conclusions of the ETHOS project,
the lecture will
aim
at discussing the lessons which can be drawn from this global approach
especially
regarding
to the role of the radiological protection in the process of rehabilitation
of living
conditions
in contaminated territories. Furthermore, the needs and developments which
should
favour such an approach will be discussed with specific emphasis on:
-
the empowerment of the collective actors in the management of quality,
-
the interrogation related to the radiation protection criteria,
-
the needs for practical developments in radiation protection.
The
ETHOS Project in Belarus
1996
- 1998
Synthesis
of the major outcomes
of
the ETHOS research project
on
the rehabilitation of living conditions in contaminated
territories
affected by the Chernobyl accident
May,
2000
G.
Hériard Dubreuil (*), J. Lochard (**), P. Girard (*), J.F. Guyonnet
(***),
G.
Le Cardinal (***), S. Lepicard (**), H. Ollagnon (*+), V. Pupin (*+),
J.
Rigby (***), T. Schneider (**)
(*) Mutadis, Paris, France
(**)
Centre d'étude sur l'Evaluation de la Protection dans le domaine
Nucléaire (CEPN),
Fontenay-aux-Roses,
France
(***) Université de Technologie de Compiègne (UTC), Compiègne, France
(*+) Institut National d'Agronomie de Paris-Grignon (INAPG), Paris, France
2
CONTENTS
1.
INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................
3
2.
THE ETHOS PROJECT.........................................................................................
5
2.1
Initial objectives of the ETHOS strategic approach.............................................
5
2.2
The ETHOS project implementation....................................................................
5
2.3
The methodology developed throughout the ETHOS project ...............................
6
2.4
The main results of the ETHOS project...............................................................
7
3.
THE INVOLVMENT OF THE LOCAL POPULATION WITHIN THE ETHOS
PROJECT
.............................................................................................................
8
3.1
The involvement of mothers in the radiological protection of the children...........
8
3.2
The management of the radiological quality of milk..........................................
11
3.3
The management of meat quality.......................................................................
13
3.4
The education of children living in the contaminated territories........................
16
3.5
The youth video project.....................................................................................
18
3.6
The management of contaminated wastes and long term environment
protection
.........................................................................................................
19
4.
FUTURE NEEDS AND DEVELOPMENTS........................................................
21
REFERENCES ................................................................................................................ 24
3
1. INTRODUCTION
The
post-accidental situation in the territories affected by the Chernobyl
accident is
characterised
by a high degree of complexity [1, 2, 3, 4]. In the first place, the inhabitants
are
confronted
with a risk which is omnipresent in every facet of their everyday life
but they do
not
know how to cope with it. They have the general feeling to be ignorant
and to have lost
the
control on the simple and traditional situations they used to manage in
the past. In such a
context,
the role of authorities and scientific bodies is pre-eminent. Everyone
relies on experts
to
propose relevant countermeasures and on State to bring in the appropriate
resources to
implement
them. However the economic environment is difficult, to say the least,
and many
proposed
actions are not completed. This is reinforcing the general feeling among
the
population
to be abandoned and deceived. Next, all realms of the private and social
lives are
altered.
Ethical, social, economic, political, but also aesthetic and symbolic values
are more or
less
seriously depreciated. As a result, the quality of life as a whole is perceived
as being
irreversibly
affected. Moreover, the population is also confronted to contradictory
speeches
from
scientific and political authorities who have different views on the situation
according to
their
convictions and their strategies. Scientific controversies related to the
long term
consequences
of living in contaminated territories, and particularly health consequences,
are
reinforcing
the lack of trust of the population in the authorities and its general
feeling of
insecurity.
The question of the development of the situation in the long term is also
a concern
which
makes complex the management of the territories. The steady contribution
of a
significant
extra financial and material aid from the Governments of the affected countries
and
from the international assistance is not a sustainable strategy.
Facing
such a complex situation, how to restore the living conditions in contaminated
territories?
How to find a balance between the protection of the inhabitants and their
quality
of
life? How to bring back the feeling of safety of the population? How to
optimise resources
in
the long term perspective? The temptation is strong to adopt an analytical
approach of the
problems
and to reduce this complexity by privileging one or two dimensions identified
as
key
in the process of restoration. Because the origin of the problems lies
in the contamination
of
the environment, there is a clear inclination to think that a well designed
radiological
protection
program based on adequate criteria is the cornerstone of the process. Since
the
Chernobyl
accident, the search for acceptable levels of exposure of the population
was a
constant
priority of the successive programs implemented in the contaminated territories.
It is
not
the place here to analyse in details how the debate about individual exposure
limits
evolved
and how finally the regulation framework put in place in territories has
been
essentially
driven by radiological protection criteria. Retrospectively it is evident
that this
approach
was a strong blocking factor, not because of the severity of the criteria,
but merely
because
of the role of exposure limits was misunderstood by most of the actors
and did not
favour
at all a prudent and responsible attitude among the population. The radiological
protection
approach is not the only example of reducing strategy that prevailed within
the last
decade
in the contaminated territories. The psychological care approach to cope
with the
stress
of the population and the risk communication strategy which were also implemented
all
along
the nineties did not bring any of the improvements of the situation that
were expected
[5].
In
fact, in the light of more a decade of experience, the long term rehabilitation
of the living
conditions
in the contaminated territories appears as a process to be constructed
step by step
4
taking
into account the characteristics of the various specific local and regional
contexts [6].
No
global and universal strategy seems to be adequate to cope with the variability
of these
contexts.
Because, the consequences of the Chernobyl accident are affecting life
in its
individual
and social dimensions, it is necessary to start off again from the day-to-day
actions
of
the inhabitants. This means to look for all opportunities for improving
the daily life and to
give
those affected the means to act by themselves, within the framework of
the collectivity,
to
build a new normality. In this perspective, the direct involvement of the
local communities
turns
out to be the only practical way to reach reasonable and accepted decisions
balancing
various
and sometimes conflicting objectives such as radiation protection, quality
of life and
economic
development.
5
2.
THE ETHOS PROJECT
2.1 Initial objectives of the ETHOS strategic approach
Observing
the shortcomings of the successive post-accident strategies implemented
in the
eight
years following the Chernobyl accident, the ETHOS project was proposed
as an
innovative
strategy for post-accident rehabilitation in order to better cope with
the main
features
of the post-accident situation, notably with the long term social and economic
dimensions
[7]. A main goal was to create conditions for the inhabitants of the contaminated
territories
to enable them to become more autonomous actors in a rehabilitation process
embracing
the improvement of the local living conditions as well as increasing radiological
safety.
The recovery of self confidence and control among the population as well
as the
restoration
of social trust were also key objectives in the ETHOS approach as they
were
considered
as a necessary component in the rebuilding of security. The ETHOS approach
was
therefore based on a strong involvement of the population and surrounding
community. A
specific
feature of the ETHOS approach was to avoid the dissociation of the social
and
technical
dimensions of the post-accident management. In order to better take into
account the
observed
complexity of the post-accident situation, an interdisciplinary approach
was adopted
involving
a group of experts from the relevant following disciplines :radiological
protection,
sociology,
agronomy, nature & life management, economics, social management of
risk,
technological
safety, communication, social trust. Another characteristic of the ETHOS
approach
was to develop radiological safety as part of a more general improvement
of the
quality
of life. This emphasis emerged due to several reasons, among them the observed
social
dynamic of loss and restriction resulting from the strategies focusing
on solely on risk
reduction.
Since many factors affected the progress in radiological safety, for example
the
economic
recession, another motive for aiming at a global improvement of the quality
of life
was
to achieve solid and durable progress, but also to facilitate the balancing
between
radiation
protection and other priorities in the local decision making processes.
The ETHOS
approach
dealt with all the day-to-day aspects that were affected or threatened
by the
contamination
among them: health (especially that of children), food, safety at home,
professional
life, social life, environmental quality, leisure time, economic value
of local
production,
the future (especially that of children), individual and collective identities
and
culture.
2.2 The ETHOS project implementation
Initiated
at the beginning of 1996, this three year project was implemented in the
Republic of
Belarus.
The ETHOS project involved an interdisciplinary team of European researchers
from
the
following institutions: the Centre d'étude sur l'Evaluation de la
Protection dans le domaine
Nucléaire
- CEPN (radiation protection, economics), the Institut National d'Agronomie
de
Paris-Grignon
- INAPG (agronomy, nature & life management), the Compiègne
University of
Technology
(technological and industrial safety, social trust) and the Mutadis Research
Group
(sociology,
social risk management) which was in charge of the scientific co-ordination
of the
project.
The Belarussian partners in the ETHOS project included the Ministry of
Emergencies
of
Belarus, the National Chernobyl Committee of Belarus as well as the relevant
regional and
local
authorities concerned with the implementation site. A first mission in
Belarus was
organised
in April 1996 in order to select the implementation site. An important
selection
6
criteria
was a voluntary commitment of the local community. After discussions and
negotiations
with local, regional and national authorities, the candidate village of
Olmany in
the
district of Stolyn (Brest region) was selected. According to the Belarussian
law (1991) the
village
of Olmany is located in a "voluntary relocation zone" where the estimated
average
annual
individual exposures range from 1 to 5 mSv, the ground caesium contamination
ranging
between 185 and 555 kBq/m2. Among the criteria taken into account for the
site
selection
was the location of the settlement in a zone which, according to the Belarussian
law,
was
not dedicated to a complete relocation and where the rehabilitation of
the living
conditions
was therefore necessary. Another was the existing social network including
families
with children, and the clearly expressed willingness of the population
to participate in
the
project.
The
village of Olmany (1265 people) is linked to a collective farm of roughly
1800 hectares
whose
main production is milk, wheat and meat. Problematic contamination levels
of
privately
produced food appeared to be a real concern for both the population (notably
the
mothers)
and the local authorities. Tradition is very deeply rooted in the social
organisation,
and
the population, contrary to other districts more severely affected by previous
relocation
policies,
has a large proportion of young people (369 people less than 17 years old).
Only a
few
families with very young children left Olmany when the consequences of
the accident in
their
village were officially recognised in 1991. Despite an on-going political
debate
concerning
the possibility of relocating the population of the village there was a
firm
opposition
from most of the inhabitants to leave.
A co-operation
framework was signed in July 1996 between the European research team and
its
CIS partners at three administrative levels: the Chernobyl Ministry of
Belarus, the District
of
Stolyn, the village of Olmany (represented by the collective farm). According
to the terms
of
this framework, each party committed itself to provide the project with
the necessary
means
for involving its representatives. The European participation was clearly
restricted to
the
involvement of the research team and the corresponding expenses (travels
and
subsistence).
The participation of the Belarussian partners was by no means financed
by the
European
part. Humanitarian support was therefore strictly excluded from the project
in order
to
ensure the sustainability of the results to be achieved. A series of 12
missions of about 10
days
each were made between March 1996 and December 1998.
2.3 The methodology developed throughout the ETHOS project
The
preparation of methodological guidelines was initiated during workshops
held in Paris
and
Stolyn involving the interdisciplinary research team during the first semester
of the
project.
Among the principles elaborated by the participants was the absence of
a unique
model
to represent the local situation in Olmany. Although stating that a systemic
and
interdisciplinary
understanding of the situation was needed, the participants also
acknowledged
the absence of a ready-made methodology given the complexity of the local
post-accident
situation. In order to cope with the real situation and also to benefit
from a
continuing
interdisciplinary analysis of the problems at stake, the participants decided
to build
the
action from the confrontation with the local situation and from its interactions
with the
local
actors. The next step in the project was to engage a dialogue with the
population of the
village
in order to encourage co-operative actions with the local inhabitants and
to involve
them
in the project. A general public presentation of the project to the population
was
7
organised
in the village in July 1996 with the participation of some one hundred
and fifty
inhabitants
and the research team. Two main concerns were raised by the population
during
the
discussions: A first category of questions was: "Do you think we can live
here with our
children
? Are there any risks to our health ? Should we leave this area or can
we stay?"
Taking
into account the difficulties created by the population's distrust in experts,
the
research
team expressed its ethical position as refusing to make decisions in the
place of the
people
confronted with the contamination while proposing to help those having
decided to
stay
in the village to improve their safety and their quality of life. This
response led to
questions
from the population such as "What would you do? Would you come and live
here
with
your children? which were then answered by each team member on the basis
of his
personal
feelings towards the situation. The population also expressed a feeling
of "being
treated
like guinea-pigs" by scientists, "without any kind of benefit for the inhabitants
in
return,"
and a kind of scepticism about the potential benefit to be expected from
the project
for
their village. This made it necessary for the research team to commit itself
to adopt as a
main
goal the practical improvement of the real local situation in the village
of Olmany
during
the lifetime of the project. To adopt the objective of studying the situation
in Olmany
for
proposing future improvements after the end of the project in Olmany and
in other
contaminated
villages would have been a different option. All the actions taken by the
research
group had to aim directly at a concrete improvement of the living conditions
in the
village
within the lifetime of the project. In the later stages, this commitment
appeared to be a
key
methodological option in the ETHOS approach since it involved reshaping
the objectives
of
the actions engaged according to the views expressed by the population
with regard to its
priorities
and concerns.
From
the contact established with the population several working groups involving
local
volunteers
were created and dedicated to a specific objective, such as: the radiological
protection
of the children, the production of clean milk, the marketing of privately
produced
food,
the diffusion of a practical radiological culture at school, the involvement
of young
people
in the general rehabilitation process and the management of domestic radioactive
waste.
2.4 The main results of the ETHOS project
The
main results of the ETHOS Project can be summarised as follows. The inhabitants
of
Olmany
have gained a more precise and reliable picture of the radiological situation
within
and
around the village. The production of milk with less than 111 becquerels
per litter
(contamination
limit for marketing) has increased from 25 to 55% in winter and from less
than
10 to about 80% in summer. The economic circuits with the district and
the non-
contaminated
zones have been restored for milk and meat. The average internal contamination
of
children has been reduced by at least 30%. Many villagers have recovered
self confidence
and
initiative. The objective of the ETHOS team is now to apply the approach
in the other
contaminated
villages of the Stolyn district. This second phase which has been planned
in
close
co-operation with the Belarussian national authorities will start at the
beginning of year
2000
for two years and will involve new stakeholders, particularly at the district
and regional
levels.
8
3.
THE INVOLVMENT OF THE LOCAL POPULATION WITHIN THE ETHOS
PROJECT
3.1 The involvement of mothers in the radiological protection of the children
The
first discussions with the inhabitants of Olmany revealed that mothers
were quite anxious
about
the health of their children [8]. Mothers expressed concern based on the
relatively bad
picture
drawn periodically by the medical doctors examining children at school.
This concern
was
also reinforced by the general context of scientific uncertainty surrounding
the long term
consequences
on health of living with the contamination. A dozen young mothers joined
the
working
group proposed by the ETHOS team with the objective of better understanding
the
situation
with regard to their children and to explore the possibilities of improving
the state of
their
health. The first meetings showed that ten years after the Chernobyl accident,
despite all
the
measurements of the contamination performed over the years, the mothers
of Olmany
were
not able to say anything about the levels of contamination in their environment
nor the
mechanisms
of exposure of their children. This was obviously not due to a lack of
understanding
but because the available information had never been shared with the
population.
In response to this situation an attempt to teach the mothers about the
basic
radiation
protection concepts and principles turned out to be useless and even counter
productive
by increasing the level of confusion. This led the working group to adopt
a more
pragmatic
approach by involving directly the members of the group. It was then decided
to
start
with a measurement campaign of ambient dose rates in houses and gardens.
First, a few
mothers
were taught how to perform dose rate measurements in their own homes and
gardens
with
radiation meters brought by the ETHOS team and how to mark the results
on schematic
maps.
Within a few months, several tens of maps were produced and initiatives
were taken to
extend
the measurements to various places all around the village where children
played.
The
results of the campaign opened the way for new discussions within the working
group.
Several
points emerged from this exercise. The first one was the need to relate
the
measurements
to some reference values. The value of 0.15 microsievert per hour,
corresponding
to the average ambient dose rate associated with the natural radiation
background
in France, was adopted as a reference. The second point was the characterisation
of
the situation. The levels of ambient dose rates within houses were all
below this reference
value
except those close to or inside stoves due to the presence of contaminated
ashes. Nearly
half
of the ambient dose rates measured in gardens were higher than 0.15, especially
those
close
to wood piles and manure heaps. The highest values measured in the environment
were
found
in the forests surrounding the village.
Based
on this information, the group created a dose rate scale giving mothers
advice on how
to
behave according the level of ambient dose rate and the time spent in a
given location. The
values
of 0.15 and 1 microsievert per hour (corresponding respectively to an annual
dose of
about
1.3 and 8.7 millisieverts in case of an exposure time of 8700 hours) were
selected to
characterise
the three ranges of the scale.
The
second phase of the work focused on internal exposure with the objective
of gaining a
better
understanding of how children were contaminated through the ingestion of
foodstuffs.
Mothers
did not know how to estimate and manage this type of exposure apart from
banning
9
the
consumption of food not respecting the enforced contamination limits by
authorities. In a
first
step some voluntary mothers noted down in details the daily diet of their
children
including
the quantity of each food and its origin. Parallel to this action a measurement
campaign
of all foodstuffs consumed in the village started. Because of the large
variability of
the
diet and the wide spectrum of levels of contamination, it was impossible
to consider an
average
daily diet and an average contamination level of the foodstuffs. An individual
approach
was therefore adopted. Each participating mother with the help of the group
reconstituted
the intake of her child(ren) for a few days considered as representative
in terms
of
diet and contamination. Based on all measurements performed the group was
then able to
draw
a "foodstuff table" including the various foodstuffs to be found in the
village classified
according
to the range of levels of contamination. All products were divided into
three
categories
depending on their sensitivity to contamination: highly sensitive products
(considerable
variations and high contamination levels), products with a low degree of
sensitivity
(low, slightly variable contamination) and "neutral" products (mainly products
bought
in shops which were generally not contaminated or only slightly). Mothers
were then
in
a position to predict crudely the number of becquerels ingested by their
children in one day
as
a function of their diet and the level of contamination of the foodstuffs.
This
process provided opportunities to regain control over the contamination
of their children.
The
most striking was the fact that, depending on whether the level of contamination
of the
foodstuffs
available in the village was assumed to be the minimum or maximum, the
same
diet
could lead to a difference in the daily intake by as much as a factor 20.
These results also
demonstrated
that, assuming a constant diet and daily intake over the whole year, the
corresponding
annual individual doses could range from a fraction of millisievert to
a few
millisieverts.
Furthermore, only the few foodstuffs indentified by the authorities as
potentially
dangerous
were found to be mainlyresponsible for this large variation. This latter
result was a
revelation
for the mothers of the group indicatng that all previous warnings concerning
these
products
had been meaningless.
Similar
to the ambient dose rate scale, the group developed "an internal contamination
scale
"giving
advice about the daily intake of becquerels. The concept of an annual budget
of intake
was
adopted as a means to introduce some flexibility in the management of the
diet according
the
level of contamination of the food. A daily intake of 50 becquerels (corresponding
to an
annual
budget of about 20 000 becquerels and an annual dose of about 0.2 millisievert)
was
retained
as the target value to keep doses at a reasonably low level and the value
of 300
becquerels
per day (100 000 bequerels and 1.3 millisievert per year) as the frontier
beyond
which
it was not recommended to go.
These
discussions allowed the group of mothers to change profoundly their attitude
towards
the
management of the situation. Previously the concentration limits for foodstuffs
enforced
by
the law were understood as values to judge if a food was "clean" or "dirty".
As many
products
of Olmany were much over the limits - as for example mushrooms and berries
picked
in the forest but also most of the milk products - their banning was logically
seen by
the
mothers as the only possible strategy to protect their children. However
the total
elimination
of these products, and especially milk products, was difficult to envisage
without
introducing
a severe dis-equilibrium in the daily diet, without speaking of the general
economic
difficulties limiting the opportunity to buy clean products in the village
store. As a
result,
when mothers used products, knowing they were not respecting the regulatory
limits,
10
they
felt guilty. They overcame this very uncomfortable situation by deliberately
ignoring the
levels
of contamination of the products they were using. The major consequence
of this easily
understood
attitude was that all contaminated foodstuffs, irrespective of their level
of
contamination,
were considered by mothers to be the same. In such a context, an ALARA
attitude
in which preference should be given to less contaminated foodstuffs, was
not possible.
The
work on the diet and the scale gave the mothers the opportunity to get
a grip again on the
situation.
Breaking the concentration limits from time to time was no longer felt
as a problem
as
long as they had the feeling they could maintain globally the annual budget
of intake below
the
target adopted by the group. The meaning and the role of the concentration
limits were
reinterpreted
as a quality objective and the mothers realised at this occasion that the
policy
enforced
by the authorities was rather ambitious and perfectly in line with the
objectives of
the
group. This was an important point as far as the restoration of confidence
in the
administration
was concerned. The work also pointed out the importance of each possible
improvement
with regard to the quality of the food available in the village and the
obvious
links
between the strategy developed in the group and the strategies developed
by the other
ETHOS
working groups, especially those dealing with the radiological quality
of the meat
and
the milk.
At
that stage, the question of the control of the effectiveness of their actions
became an issue.
It
was soon recognised that the best and only way was to co-operate with the
doctors
responsible
for monitoring the children's health. So far the relationships between
mothers and
the
medical doctors, who visiting the children twice a year through the school
system, were
rather
difficult. In fact doctors, facing a health situation with all their indicators
showing a
downward
trend, were tempted to make the mothers feel guilty because they were not
following
the official recommendations, especially with regard to the banning of
the most
contaminated
food products. On their side, mothers, not at all informed about the means
to
manage
the radiological situation, were facing the dilemma of providing their
children with
the
food they liked - although contaminated - and also struggling with the
economic situation
reducing
the opportunity to buy clean products.
A meeting
was organised by the ETHOS team with the health authorities of the Stolyn
District
to present the experience of the mothers' group. This was received positively
by the
doctors
who rapidly foresaw a new perspective for their prevention role in the
contaminated
areas.
As a result, a paediatrician and a health physicist volunteered to work
with the mothers'
group
in order to develop a protocol to follow the health status of the children.
The protocol
was
put in place at the beginning of 1998 for a dozen children including clinical
examinations
and
whole body monitoring. After a few months, the first results of this follow-up
verified
that
the internal contamination of the children was significantly reduced. The
reduction was
not
only remarkable for the small group of children surveyed by the paediatrician
but was
general
among all school children. Between July 1997 and December 1998, the average
reduction
of the body contamination (expressed in becquerels per kilogram) for the
children
was
more than 30%.
This
result opened discussions about the respective contribution of the various
actions
undertaken
in the other working groups to improve the radiological situation of the
village.
The
group realised that in fact the improvement measured at the level of the
children was the
result
of all combined actions implemented within the ETHOS project without the
possibility
to
discern any particular action that could explain alone the evolution. Particular
attention was
11
given
to the effectiveness of the various stays of the children outside the contaminated
territories
in sanatoriums during the course of the school year and abroad during the
summer
holidays.
These stays organised by the authorities are rather disrupting for the
school work as
well
as for the family life. However, for many families, they were considered
as the only
effective
measure to reduce the impact of the contamination and perceived at first
as a legal
due.
For example a 14 year old school girl with an average daily intake of 250
becquerels
including
a period of 30 days in a sanatorium was considered to evaluate the effect
of a stay in
sanatorium.
In this particular case the situation of the whole body contamination of
the girl at
the
end of a 70 day period would have been the same just by reducing the daily
intake to 120
becquerels
on an average (0.5 millisievert per year) without leaving the village.
For those
children
ingesting more than 200 becquerels per day the objective of 120 Bq/day
was
considered
perfectly achievable given the new situation allowing a better management
of the
radiological
situation. This finding triggered lively discussions among the mothers
but also
questioned
the authorities. Until today, no decision was taken about this issue but
the question
of
the effectiveness of the sanatorium's stays is clearly an issue to be looked
at carefully in the
future.
It
is too early to draw conclusions about the real impact of the actions implemented
by the
mothers'
group. From the medical point of view it will be difficult to see improvements,
if any,
before
a few years, taking for granted that mothers will maintain their vigilance.
However, it
is
interesting to mention that during the three years a profound change with
regard to
radiological
protection took place and several interesting lessons can be drawn. The
first
obvious
one is the negative role of limits as long as they are interpreted as a
boundary
between
safe and unsafe. This is a strong blocking factor which is discouraging
those
confronted
with higher levels to develop an ALARA attitude i.e. an attitude where
every
opportunity
to reduce the external exposure or the intake of becquerels is exploited.
The
process
followed by the mothers illustrates how it is possible to develop a framework
for
setting
acceptable levels of risks where limits are considered as point of reference
to guide
action.
It is also noticeable that both scales developed by the group are based
on a prudent
attitude
and on the active involvement of the mothers in the decisions related to
the use of
time
(for external irradiation) or food (for internal contamination) and not
on restrictions and
interdictions.
The ability to make for themselves measurements or to have direct and quick
access
to information, as far as the contamination of foodstuffs was concerned,
was a key
element
in the adoption of the protective strategies. On this last point, the ETHOS
project
highlighted
the lack of robust and easy-to-use measurement instruments on the market.
Globally
the mothers have demonstrated that radiological protection can be practically
and
effectively
integrated within the day to day activities of the family in the fields
of personal
hygiene,
education and diet. Who could be more effective than mothers within these
spheres?
3.2 The management of the radiological quality of milk
One
of the achievements of the ETHOS project was to enable private producers
manage the
radiological
quality of their milk. From the early discussions with the population of
the
village,
the problem posed by the radiological contamination of private milk appeared
to be a
source
of concern. First, milk is an important part of children's diet; however
it was generally
considered
by the inhabitants to be homogeneously contaminated at the scale of the
village.
Furthermore,
it must be noticed that the trade of private milk was stopped in Olmany
after the
accident
because of its contamination, which has strongly perturbed the economy
of the
village.
Finally, the inhabitants used to express strong doubts about the efficiency
of the
12
countermeasures,
having the feeling that the authorities did not really care about the concrete
improvement
of the daily life. The idea of constituting a working group emerged on
this basis.
Existing
information on contamination measurements of private milk was collected
and
discussed
with a group of volunteer private producers. It gave a more detailed picture
of the
actual
situation. For example, in Olmany in 1995, it showed that although a proportion
of the
milk
proved to be fairly contaminated, with values in excess of 2000 Bq/l, samples
with fairly
low
contamination levels were also found. The private producers were then in
a position to
understand
that the situation was not entirely bad from a radiological point of view
and that it
might
be worth investigating under which conditions relatively uncontaminated
milk could be
produced
at home.
A working
group involving private producers, who volunteered to take part in the
work, was
created
to improve the radiological quality of milk. One of the main aspects of
the approach
was
to differentiate between the two production conditions, in summer and in
winter. In
summer,
the production of milk is organised at the community level: the 400 or
so private
cows
of the village are split into 7 herds. Each herd is allocated a specific
pasture on the
outskirts
of the village by the collective authority (kolkhoze). In winter, the situation
is
completely
different. The cows return to their byres next to the family homes and
each
producer
can manage his resources (fodder, complementary products) more individually.
It
must
be noticed that winter fodder has 2 origins: part of the hay is collected
during summer
by
the producers, and usually comes from different places in the outskirts
of the village (this
hay
may sometimes be very contaminated). Parallel to this, the kolkhoze provides
each family
with
a certain amount (depending on the number of cows) of hay before winter
(non
contaminated
hay).
As
far as summer production was concerned, the working group started to assess
the
radiological
quality of the milk for each herd, taking account of the different pastures
in
which
the herds were grazing. They measured the contamination level of the milk
produced
by
ten to twenty cows of each herd. In summer 1997, this work showed that
only two herds
(which
were grazing in woodland areas) had specific problems, with milk contamination
that
might
reach 1000 or even 2000 Bq/l. The other five herds which were grazing in
pastures
having
been improved (countermeasures taken after the Chernobyl accident, consisting
in
ploughing
pastures, sowing new grass and using a certain number of fertilisers to
reduce the
amount
of caesium absorbed by the grass and, more particularly, transferred to
milk) were
less
than 300 Bq/l. These results created a considerable stir in the village:
private producers
could
see concretely the efficiency of the work of improvement of pastures made
by the
kolkhoze,
and about which the population were expressing doubts. This contributed
to the re-
establishment
of confidence between the producers and the kolkhoze, as they acknowledged
the
reality of the pasture improvement achieved by the kolkhoze. This provided
the local
population
with considerable bargaining power and allowed negotiations with the kolkhoze
which
finally facilitated the use of "improved" pastures for the two other herds.
Finally, after
these
two herds were moved, the contamination levels in almost 80% of the milk
produced
privately
in Olmany in the summer 1998 dropped to less than 100 Bq/l, compared with
less
than
10 % in 1997.
As
regards winter production, the situation was very different. The situation
was not
homogeneous
across the village. Because each family managed the winter fodder resources
individually,
the radiological quality of milk tended to vary greatly from one producer
to
another,
and also for a same producer within the winter period.
13
It
became apparent that in order to improve his winter production, each producer
had to plan
ahead
the distribution of his available resources (fodder, ferrocene ferrocene,
or iron
hexacyanoferrate
Fe4(Fe(CN)6)3 is used as an additive in cattle fodder making it possible
to
reduce
by a factor of around 3 to 10 the transfer of 137Cs to milk, according
to the results of
studies
carried out in Belarus, Russia and the Ukraine etc). Fodder stocks
needed to be
separated
out in the barn into stacks with different levels of contamination, requiring
the
producer
to measure the contamination level every year before the onset of winter.
The
producer
can then draw up a production schedule for the winter, using the most highly-
contaminated
fodder before the calving season (when the cows are not milked), using
ferrocene
with relatively highly-contaminated fodder, reserving good fodder for cows
producing
milk to be drunk by the family, using contaminated fodder for cows whose
milk is
given
to animals etc.
Based
on these " good practices " a simple optimisation model was elaborated
to facilitate the
realisation
of such planning by producers. During the winter 97-98, a dozen private
producers
volunteered
to test this simple optimisation model. They separated their different
fodder
stacks
and measured the corresponding radioactivity. Then they established a feeding
planning,
taking account of the calving period, in order to manage their available
resources in
the
most economical way. At the same time, observing the good results obtained
in summer
and
the regain of interest of private producers in the improvement of the radiological
quality
of
their milk, the authorities started to consider the possibility of trading
private milk again,
strongly
encouraged by the district dairy facility which was suffering a lack of
supply.
Consequently
the kolkhoze provided each private producer with a surplus of hay during
the
winter
1998. This action led to a significant improvement of the radiological
quality of the
winter
production of private milk. At the end of the winter 97-98, about 56 %
of the private
milk
production was contaminated less than 100 Bq/l (compared with approximately
25 % in
the
winter of 96-97). The impact of this ETHOS action was limited to those
few producers
who
participated in this exercise. Consequently it was quantitatively marginal,
but
nonetheless
qualitatively significant. It facilitated more general changes in attitude
within the
village,
motivated by the possibility of restoring trade of private milk. It was
enough to
demonstrate
to the other producers in the village, and also to the authorities, that
such an
approach
where the population is actively involved, was feasible and was concretely
improving
the radiological quality of private milk.
As
a consequence of the improvement of the radiological quality of milk both
in summer and
in
winter, discussions began between the group and the milk factory which
expressed its
strong
interest as regards private milk production. The milk factory facilitated
the process and
the
trade of private milk started again in March 1999 in Olmany. This is of
important
economic
benefit for the population and for the authorities, and is a guarantee
of the
sustainability
of the work of the group.
3.3 The management of meat quality
For
the private producers in Olmany the radiological contamination of meat
has created two
problems.
Since nearly all the meat produced is eaten by its producers, the presence
of
contamination
has rendered all the food products suspicious. However, "one has to eat",
in
particular
when the food sold in the shop in the village has become too expensive
for families
14
living
in Olmany. The presence of contamination has also stopped the private meat
business.
Indeed,
if a private producer wants to sell a pig or a calf, the contamination
of the animal has
to
be controlled at the abattoir or the market in Stolyn. A private producer
therefore has to pay
for
the transport of the animal, slaughter it, if it is a pig and, if the meat
is too contaminated,
risk
being burdened with an animal that he is now certain is contaminated, knowing
that the
only
possibility open to him is to give it to his own family to eat!
Starting
from this situation, a group of private producers was created, those individuals
most
interested
in improving the radiological quality of meat used for food and for sale.
Each of the
actors
involved in the meat production network was contacted. Some were involved
directly
in
the work of the group while others were kept up to date with its evolution.
Discussions with
the
private producers showed that they were completely ignorant about the level
of
contamination
of the meat. This ignorance fed a feeling of resignation and "loss": "we
don't
know
what we are eating". Concerning the commercialisation of meat, producers
said: "we
cannot
sell our meat at the market like before ... the calves are sold at very
low prices to the
kolkhoze
in Olmany". The group therefore decided to concentrate on two objectives:
the
evaluation
of the radiological quality of the meat produced at Olmany and, if possible,
to re-
establish
the meat production network.
The
second stage comprised a study of the radiological quality of meat. Private
producers and
ETHOS
team members carried out an inventory of the meat produced in Olmany. Next,
the
group
decided to centre its actions on the two most important meats, pork and
veal, and to
collect
measurements of their contamination. Measurements were taken of the quality
of pork.
For
the veal, contamination was not easily measurable since the calves are
sold live to the
kolkhoze.
The private producers took measurements for pork and observed that they
were
almost
all under the concentration limit for commercialisation (370 Bq/kg). They
were
surprised
by these results: the radiological quality of the pork proved to be quite
good. These
measures
led them to "re-qualify" the meat for consumption and commercialisation.
The
group
then searched for ways to improve the radiological quality of pork in order
to decrease
its
contamination further. This objective meant that the producers had to control
the
contamination
of the pork making sure that it stayed under the 370 Bq/kg limit and endeavour
to
improve its radiological quality taking into account the individual possibilities
and the
climatic
conditions throughout the year.
The
private farmers generally sell live calves. There are three possibilities
open to them when
they
fatten a calf. Firstly - the most commonly chosen option - the animal is
sold to the
kolkhoze
in Olmany. The kolkhoze buys the 100 kg calves, after weaning, at quite
a low price
and
under bad conditions of payment in view of inflation in Belarus: producers
are usually
paid
one year after the sale of the calf! However, the sale to the kolkhoze
is advantageous
since
the producer doesn't have to pay for transport and there is no radiological
control and
therefore
no risk of refusal. Other kolkhozes around Olmany do propose slightly higher
prices
and
pay immediately. Finally, a third possibility is available and is clearly
the most interesting
economically:
the kombinat at Pinsk buys bull calves (up to 400 kg weight) for a much
higher
price
and pays immediately. In addition, at the kombinat, a sample of meat is
taken for
radiological
control. If the contamination is too high, the private producer finds himself
with
400
kg of non saleable meat which he is then obliged to take back with him
for his own
family.
Producers have to pay for the transport in order to get to the kombinat:
Pinsk is 80 km
away
from Olmany.
15
In
order to improve this situation, the working group first tried to evaluate
the importance of
the
private production of bull calves. The private farmers who fatten up their
calves
themselves
generally obtain a better quality of meat than the kolkhoze in the village:
calves
are
fed at the udder for a long period and looked after carefully by the producer
who makes
sure
that there are only one or two calves. With this knowledge, the group studied
how to
increase
the private production of bull calves. Another objective was envisaged
in order to
increase
the incomes in the village: if private producers sold their calves outside
the village,
this
results in a loss for the kolkhoze at Olmany and therefore the villagers
also since the
kolkhoze
earns less revenue and consequently has more difficulties assuring the
multiple
services
that it has to deliver to the inhabitants (clean hay, veterinary services,
incomes etc.).
The
Belarussian kolkhozes, and particularly the kolkhoze at Olmany, are confronted
by a
dilemma
between their social and their economic functions. For example, the radiological
countermeasures
are implemented both as a health and social action, since clean hay is
given
to
inhabitants and clean meat is supplied to the country. This measure also
has an economic
function
since in order to sell its bulls, the kolkhoze in Olmany cannot produce
meat which is
contaminated
over the limit of 600 Bq/kg. However, the more an area is contaminated,
the
more
the countermeasures are numerous and expensive. In addition they employ
people
without
necessarily having a lot of work to give them since they function as the
"social
security"
of the village. But the kolkhozes also have economic imperatives. Consequently,
they
are in competition amongst themselves for the purchase of calves weaned
by the
villagers
that they can fatten up and sell to the meat factories.
A protocol
concerning the fattening of the calves was established with the veterinarians
and
private
producers, incorporating an evaluation of the contamination of the animal
based on a
direct
contact measurement. In this way the private producer finds a way of managing
the
fattening
of his bull and operating some choice over its date of sale. If he wants
to sell his calf
at
300 kg and realises that it risks being rejected on the grounds of radiological
control, he can
continue
to fatten his animal a bit longer to try to eliminate the contamination.
The protocol is
not
yet satisfactory however, since it does not offer enough guarantees to
the producer: the
sale
of a calf depends on the will of the veterinarian, the will of the kolkhoze
to supply clean
fodder,
the possibility of transport, etc. This arrangement, therefore, remains
quite fragile. The
actors
in the meat production network in the district seemed to be interested
in a more overall
agreement.
The stakeholders concerned with the transformation and distribution looked
to
supply
healthy products, in particular having lower levels of radioactivity and
considerable
controls
are applied at each step of the meat transformation process. However, the
meat
networks
were handicapped by seasonal shortage from May to October. Indeed, if the
kolkhoze
network is highly structured, all the private potential for production
remains under-
exploited
despite the efforts to establish contracts between the kombinats and the
private
farmers
(not including the kolkhozes).
The
private farmers in Olmany wanted a follow-up of the quality of meat production
and
more
realistic incomes; the kolkhoze needs to secure its supply and the kombinat
in Pinsk
wishes
to develop private meat production and to secure its supply. Taking into
account these
common
interests, after several working group sessions with the various individuals
involved,
a
tripartite contract between a private producer, the kolkhoze at Olmany
and the kombinat in
Pinsk
was drawn up. This contract was based on the following principles: 1) the
private
producer
fattens bull calves up to a weight of 400 kg this represents the
threshold, which has
a
more interesting quality-price ratio for the producer at the kombinat,
2) the kolkhoze in
Olmany
assures the supply of clean hay to the private producer and delivers veterinary
and
16
radiological
services which are no longer considered as profitable below a weight of
100 kg,
the
threshold beyond which the kolkhoze makes a profit and no longer represents
uniquely a
social
action (indeed, the producer has then made the choice to continue to fatten
his bull),
3)
the kombinat at Pinsk guarantees good conditions of payment, by making
an advance
payment
to the kolkoze, 4) the district authorities control the validity of the
contract based on
this
protocol.
This
contract guarantees good radiological quality and follow-up. It could increase
trust
between
the different actors in the meat production network. It allows the development
of
private
rearing, an important issue for the entire population and source of revenue
for all
concerned.
It is also a strong sign for the producers of the coupling possible between
the
improvement
of the radiological quality and economic development. Today, the contracts
have
been validated by all concerned but have not yet been signed. A meeting
in December
1998
between the kombinat of Pinsk, private producers, the kolkhoze of Olmany
and the
administration
of the Stolyn district showed there were not sufficient conditions for
an
agreement.
The application of such a contract necessitates a long and subtle process
(the
fattening
of a calf over 400 kg takes more than a year) and the risk still exists
for each
contractor
to lose money. The district administration controls the application of
normal
contracts
but this kind of contract needs a "facilitator", accepted by all the stakeholders,
who
could
enforce the role of each actor. The ETHOS team has played this role of
contributing to
the
building of confidence between the actors of the meat networks during the
period of the
project
but the implementation of the "meat quality" contract needs a facilitator
who could
work
to re-build the food networks in the contaminated areas.
3.4 The education of children living in the contaminated territories
The
involvement of the school of Olmany in the ETHOS project started in the
very beginning
of
the project and resulted in various types of co-operation with the local
teachers as well as
with
the school institution. This co-operation lasted during the whole project.
It was filled
with
re-orientations, stops and starts. However it resulted in very successful
outcomes
particularly
in the perspective of the future dissemination of the ETHOS approach. Many
teachers
were personally interested in the ETHOS approach and participated actively
in other
groups.
Whereas the other groups started with the free participation of local volunteers
acting
as
private people, the co-operation with teachers at school had from the beginning
an
institutional
dimension which was at the origin of specific challenges. Three main phases
can
be
distinguished in the co-operation with the school.
The
first phase is that of a "romance" between the research team and the school.
Privileged
relationships
were established since the first missions. The objective of educating the
population,
of providing the children with practical knowledge on radioactivity was
immediately
shared by the teaching body which encouraged the project. Introducing specific
modules
dedicated to the problem of contamination was not however something new
in
school
as the existing programmes already included the diffusion of theoretical
knowledge on
radioactivity
but mainly as a part of the civil defence education. The existing pedagogic
material
did not address the practical problems caused by the contamination in the
day-to-day
life
of the population. The local director of the school opened widely his institution
to the
European
team. The first meetings were held in the school premises while the research
team
found
it very convenient to adopt it as a first platform to start the project.
Specific projects
with
the school were started in this first phase. The director appointed three
teachers to start a
17
co-operation
with the ETHOS team. The first objective was to develop specific learning
modules
involving the active participation of pupils and relating to problems linked
with the
contamination.
The three involved teachers did not however constitute a working group
at this
stage.
Each appointed teacher started a specific project in co-operation with
the research team.
The
results of this first action were modest but real. During this first phase,
the problem of the
motivation
of the involved teachers was raised as they provided professional work
requiring a
great
deal of time outside school hours. The continuation of the co-operation
therefore
appeared
to imply additional remuneration.
The
second phase was a clear step back for the research team in relation to
the school. The
project
developed diversified activities and co-operation with different types
of actors in the
village
as well as in the district. As the research team decided to rent, as an
office, the old
presbytery
in the village, the school no longer appeared to occupy a central position
in the
project.
According to the co-operation framework of the project, the question of
the teachers'
motivation
was discussed with the national partners of the ETHOS project in order
to examine
to
what extent a specific Belarussian budget could be raised for this task.
At the request of the
Ministry
for Chernobyl a project foreseeing the implementation "of a new pedagogy
for the
contaminated
areas" was prepared, notably to justify the allocation of a specific Belarussian
budget
including complementary remuneration for the participating teachers. This
project
described
practical work for the pupils tackling problems related to contamination
under
several
angles (ecology, agriculture,...) by several disciplines, in the frame
of a local club
involving
children and teachers. This project received support from the national
EMERCOM
administration
but met strong opposition from the representatives of the education authorities
in
the district. As the project entered the domain of pedagogy it was perceived
by the district
administration
as competing with the official programmes which were in the process of
being
established.
Concerning the physics of radioactivity, this official programme remained
very
theoretical
and far from the everyday life of the children. Despite those negative
reactions
from
the education authorities, the project was presented to a group of school
teachers of
Olmany,
in the absence of the school director, in October 1997. The reactions were
mostly
favourable
but it was made clear that nothing could be done without support from the
director
and
from the education head in the district authorities.
This
led the research team to adopt a different approach during the third year
of the project
(third
phase) in order to take into account the above difficulties. It appeared
that each of the
other
working groups had produced valuable material in terms of practical radiological
culture
directly
linked with the everyday life of the population in the village. Moreover,
many
teachers
had been actively involved in a personal way in those groups during the
two first
years
of the project. As the other working groups had already achieved very positive
outcomes,
a basis for interpersonal trust between the research team and the involved
teachers
had
been established. At the same time EMERCOM confirmed its willingness to
support the
development
of a practical radiological culture among the children in the village of
Olmany.
The
research team decided to reorientate its approach adopting a different
perspective as
regards
the co-operation with the school. The revised objective was to co-operate
with the
school
of Olmany and with the district head of education in order to exploit,
at the
pedagogical
level, the existing outcomes of the ETHOS working groups in terms of practical
radiological
culture. It was clearly stated that the Belarussian partners were providing
the new
project
with pedagogic expertise whereas the research team was acting to facilitate
the
transfer
of experience. A group of seven teachers accepted the principle of participating
in this
new
group. Six of them had previously participated in other ETHOS groups. Modest
18
remuneration
was provided by the EMERCOM administration. However the volunteers stated
that
their participation was mainly motivated by a personal commitment for the
future of their
village.
The new orientations were presented to the district administration of education
which
adopted
a more positive attitude. This change can be attributed to several factors:
a better
characterisation
of the role of the different partners (the pedagogic expertise clearly
belonging
to
the Belarussian part), the existence of a group of volunteer teachers from
the school of
Olmany,
the financing by and commitment from the EMERCOM ministry, the existence
of
relevant
material on radiological culture emerging from the ETHOS project in general.
The
district
administration of education accepted the project and proposed to organise
a seminar at
the
end of it with the participation of other villages from the contaminated
zones.
Very
effective and productive work was then achieved by the "education group"
of teachers
in
co-operation with the research team within the last quarter of the ETHOS
project and
resulted
in a district seminar chaired by the district head of education in December
1998. The
director
of the school was entrusted with the task of co-ordinating the administrative
aspects
of
the education group. It appeared that the existing group of teachers already
involved in
other
ETHOS working groups were in best position to operate this transfer of
practical
radiological
culture. However the research team was actively involved in the preparation
of
the
pedagogical modules with the teachers as well as in the reporting and drawing
up of the
conclusions
of the seminar.
3.5 The youth video project
The
young people of Olmany form an important social group in the village. The
16 to 25 year
old
have either just left school, are searching for work, preparing for military
service or
further
studies, are young parents or are students working in the locality. They
play an
important
role for the future of the village. At the beginning of the ETHOS project,
the
research
team faced difficulties in approaching the subject of the radiological
situation with
the
young people. A long period - over six months - of talking and listening
to young people
through
interviews and informal discussions, showed that they saw their future
prospects
diminishing
in a context of unemployment and a lack of economic activity. Working either
in
the
garden or in the house, collecting wood or other products from the forest
when they were
not
studying, the young people appeared to be completely uninterested in the
subject of the
radioactivity.
There appeared to be no one obvious way of starting constructive actions
with
the
young people. According to the conclusions of informal interviews with
the youth, the
research
team proposed the idea of working on a project that would capture their
imagination:
the
making of a video film describing the life of the village during the four
seasons of a year.
A
small working group was formed in February 1997. Twelve months later, the
young people
had
learnt how to use the camera equipment and had filmed several hours of
video-tape
depicting
scenes of the nature surrounding the village, the work in the fields, the
festivals, the
school
life. However, exploring the village with the use of the video camera alone
had not
enabled
the young people to approach the subject of the radioactivity. The videos
showed the
beauty
of the local environment and principal events of the life in the village
but the problem
of
contamination had been by-passed altogether.
Having
produced several hours of descriptive film the group, faced with a lack
of motivation,
entered
a new phase in its activities. Some animated discussions took place where
the
European
participants highlighted the absence of the issue of contamination and
the
paradoxical
contrast between the peaceful village scenes filmed so far and one recent
dramatic
19
sequence,
filmed by two group members, where doctors described the effects of
contamination
on health and blamed the mothers in the village for their children's state
of
health.
The young people took a step back from their work and reflected on the
theme that the
film
was going to convey to its eventual viewers. Their question was how to
represent the
subject
of contamination which is invisible. Deciding to carry out interviews with
inhabitants,
investigating
further the problems that the contamination posed for the characters in
the film,
the
young people set out to present the various interpretations of the problem
from the point
of
view of the villagers. Re-motivated to continue their work, they learnt
how to edit their
work
and gradually built up a video involving interviews with a wide variety
of inhabitants
concerning
the radioactivity.
3.6
The management of contaminated wastes and long term environment
protection
The
last working group to be set up dealt with the management of the contaminated
ashes
from
stoves and fire places in houses. The starting point for the group was
the discovery by
the
mothers' group that the ambient dose rates measured close to the stoves
were some ten
times
higher than in the rest of the house due to the presence of contaminated
ashes. Although
they
rapidly concluded that the potential impact of these high dose rates did
not pose any
particular
problems in terms of external exposure, they considered that the use of
these ashes
was
a problem to be looked at. Was there any risk that this type of waste might
contaminate
the
environment on the long term, given that most of the villagers used to
spread the ashes as
fertiliser
in their gardens? Facing this question, a few mothers and some foresters
expressed
the
wish to better know if the spreading of the contaminated ashes was a potential
problem for
the
future. From a strictly radiological protection point of view, examination
by the ETHOS
research
team of the various studies carried out on the potential impacts of ashes
revealed that
individual
doses from ingestion and external exposure would never exceed a few tens
of
microsieverts
per year. Nevertheless, the re-use of ashes as fertilizer is part of a
process
which
may have significant consequences in the long term. It was estimated that,
from a
contribution
to the annual individual dose from about 15 microsieverts in 1996 associated
with
the use of ashes as fertiliser in the garden, it will reach about 30 microsieverts
in 2016. In
fact,
the question of ashes has not to be posed in terms of radiological exposure
but the re-use
of
ashes is part of a process which slowly and continuously increases the
contamination of the
environment.
This aspect was pointed out through simple calculations performed together
with
the villagers on the basis of local conditions concerning the production
and the use of
ashes.
It was estimated that the annual production of ashes in the village as
a whole
represented
several hundred kilos per household, since wood is used for cooking and
heating,
several
hundreds tons in all for the whole village. Therefore, assuming an average
contamination
of ashes of 50,000 Bq/kg, this corresponds to a total activity of
11,200
MBq/year `imported' in the village. Considering that all ashes are spread
onto the
gardens
in the village), the annual input is about 37 kBq/m2/year, i.e. 26% of
the initial
deposition
of 187 kBq/m2 corresponding to the deposition in the garden at the time
of the
Chernobyl
accident.
In
the wake of these discussions, a working group was set up with mothers
and foresters. Its
first
task was to gather data on the contamination of ashes, to find out where
the wood came
from
and to describe how it was used (cooking or heating), with the view to
determine how
much
margin there was for reducing the production of contaminated ashes. Was
it necessary
20
to
select the wood used, as the forestry workers suggested or to focus on
the collection of
ashes
as suggested by the household? The members of the group started with the
measurement
of samples of ashes from their stoves covering various origins of the firewood.
All
measurements were far in excess of the 1000 Bq/kg concentration limit above
which
contaminated
materials are considered as radioactive waste. The average concentration
was
found
to be in the range of 30,000 to 50,000 Bq/kg with some values even exceeding
100,000
Bq/kg.
The first reflections of the working group focused on the upstream selection
of wood
according
to its origin and on the possibility of separating out the bark which was
more
contaminated
than the rest of the wood. It was rapidly concluded that the selection
of wood
was
not realistic because of the limited amount of wood available and that
the techniques
required
for the separation of the bark were too sophisticated to be implemented
in the village.
Downstream,
the working group envisaged setting up a system for collecting and disposing
of
ashes
with sufficient quality and allowing a sustainable management for the environment.
Technical
solutions involving the population were envisaged for the collection of
ashes and
the
working group established some contacts with the authorities of the village
and the district
in
order to set up such a system. The conditions for implementing a collection
and disposal
system
were still under discussion at the end of the ETHOS project in the village
of Olmany.
Waiting
for the setting-up of such a system, many persons in the village stopped
spontaneously
to spread ashes in their gardens and started to gather them in a confined
place
as
remote as possible from daily activities.
Within
the short time of its existence, the "ashes' group" did not come out with
concrete
actions
to manage collectively the question of the contaminated ashes. However,
the
discussions
and experiences performed by the group revealed some interesting aspects
of the
decision
making processes related to the management of the contamination. Although
ashes
can
be considered as a minor problem from a strict radiological protection
point of view, for
the
Olmanians, this is an issue which needs to be addressed seriously taking
into account their
concern
about the preservation of their cultural heritage for now and the future.
21
4. FUTURE NEEDS AND DEVELOPMENTS
Concluding remarks
The
irruption after a nuclear accident of a significant contamination of the
environment as
well
as the discovery of an environmental contamination resulting from past
activities is a
profound
perturbing factor for a community. The population is facing a new reality
for which
she
is not at all prepared. The natural tendency of experts and authorities
to appropriate
problems
when they are considered as too technical and complex is also reinforcing
the
feeling
of loss of control. The inevitable controversies and propensity to minimize
the
difficulties
slowly finish to ruin the public confidence already severely affected by
the
accident
itself. The ETHOS experience shows that the focus on the radiological protection
dimension
is strongly reducing the spectrum of possibilities to improve the situation.
The
introduction
of radiological criteria to control external and internal exposures tends
to
transform
the everyday life into a world of interdictions. The focus is put on the
restoration of
the
environment, and living conditions are considered as irreparably deteriorated.
The
experience of the mothers of Olmany, but also of the other working groups
of the
ETHOS
Project, has demonstrated that the direct involvement of the population
in the
rehabilitation
process of living conditions in a contaminated environment is a determining
factor
to restore self-confidence among the individuals as well as social trust.
It also favors
the
adoption of a prudent and responsible attitude in the management of the
day-to day
situations.
Decisions and actions are taking into account more effectively the specificity
of the
situations
and this is finally resulting in a more effective and sustainable protection
of all
segments
of the population. Moreover, the appropriation of a radiological protection
culture
adapted
to the everyday life is paving the way to a new form of normality.
By
avoiding to keep the population locked up into the technical dimensions
of the
rehabilitation
process, the involvement of stakeholders liberates individual initiatives.
It also
opens
the opportunities for affected persons to speak to each others, to dialog
with experts and
authorities
and to act autonomously which means finally to maintain human dignity despite
all
the difficulties.
Toward a new kind of normality?
The motivation of the local participants along the ETHOS project
Twelve
missions representing about 600 man-days of the European participants have
been
performed
during the three years of the ETHOS project which ended in December 1998.
But
the
project also entailed a considerable involvement of the local population
as well as from
the
local, regional and national authorities. As a matter of fact, the willingness
and motivation
of
the population to participate in the project varied along the successive
stages of the project
during
three years.
In
the very beginning of the project local inhabitants although sceptic about
the possible
outcomes
of the project were puzzled by the presence of a large European team which
represented
novelty in a small Belarussian village. However after six months this
22
"engagement"
phase was followed by a new step where some 100 inhabitants committed
themselves
to participate actively in the working groups. Considerable resources of
time and
efforts
were allocated by these individuals which were genuinely motivated by the
focus goal
of
improving the living conditions for their own and for the community as
a whole. Some
inhabitants
even participated to several working groups according to their concerns
and
priorities.
During each mission of the ETHOS team an intense activity took place in
the
village.
Each working group used to have several meetings during each mission.
By
the end of the project however, as soon as the concrete outcomes of the
groups were
obtained,
it was noted a tendency to disengagement in the population. As soon as
a certain
level
of confidence was reached the participants expected the relevant collective
actors such
as
the local authorities, the doctors, the teachers, the kolkhoze to continue
the follow up of the
situation
and the maintenance of safety. While expecting the collective actors to
take up the
responsibility
of maintaining a reasonable level of safety and acceptable living conditions,
the
local
participants also observed that some conditions would guarantee the lasting
of the
durability
of the progress achieved. Among those conditions was the existence of an
independent
certification of the quality of the products. A second condition was the
public
availability
of the information on the relevant radiological measurements. A third condition
was
the enlargement and the institutionalisation of the ETHOS approach at the
level of the
district.
Confidence and social trust
Current
north American social research on trust proposes a theoretical framework
which is
very
interesting when trying to interpret the variation and changes in the involvement
of the
local
actors within the duration of the ETHOS project. The north American research
on trust
emphasises
the differences between social trust and confidence as different forms
of sociality
(Earle
[9]). This distinction is very useful when considering the possible pathways
to
confidence
in institutions.
This
new understanding characterises Confidence as a relationship between a
person and an
organisation
or a system. Confidence characterises a rather passive situation where
one
individual
is familiar enough with a system not to have to worry about it. The system
represents
a comforting environment that does not necessitate his awareness.
In
a very different way Social Trust as a relationship between persons within
an existing or
emerging
group. Social trust is a demanding relationship. It entails the conscious
and active
involvement
of one individual trusting another individual. According to this research
trust is
based
on similarity. Social trust implies a personal choice and entails a risk
resulting from the
freedom
of the trusted.
Putting
in perspective confidence and social trust as different social bonds, Earle
described
sociality
as a continuum. Confidence and social trust are seen as social means to
save
cognitive
resources in human society. Confidence and social trust are mutually interdependent
and
occur in different combinations. They do not require the same level of
resources and
involvement.
In the every day life, confidence is the usual relation we have with large
organisations
we rely on. Confidence does not encourage awareness but is pretty useful
as a
non
demanding relationship. When an individual expresses confidence in an organisation,
he
exposes
himself to the dangers that he expects the organisation to control.
23
When
confidence is affected or lost over time and change, social trust is required
to provide a
transition
to a new, stable state of confidence. Social trust is the repairing capacity
of society
which
is regularly needed to rebuild affected confidence. But social change such
as crisis or
large
accidents may also destroy the basis of common meaning and values on which
a group
is
formed. The building of social trust then requires a more demanding involvement
of
individuals
necessitating the building of new shared meaning and values (similarities)
across
the
existing conflicting memberships.
The contribution to trust reconstruction in the ETHOS project
The
post-accident context of Chernobyl was strongly characterised by the lack
of social trust.
In
many ways, the ETHOS project brought a contribution to the reconstruction
of various
types
of trust among the population. The project contributed to increase the
reliability and the
credibility
of the information on the radiological situation as well as on the assessment
of the
associated
risks for the population. Whereas the first contacts in the village were
characterised
by
scepticism, the ulterior relations between the research team and the population
were
characterised
by some kind of social trust if not interpersonal trust. Surprisingly the
population
of Olmany often stated in the course of the project that: "These people
are like
us"
when talking of the European researchers. One could see in this statement
the sign of
existing
similarities between the population of the village and the researchers.
Many
factors contributed to this situation among them the ethical premises of
the ETHOS
approach
but also very concrete facts such as the regularity of the missions performed
every
three
months, the renting of a house in the village and the purchasing of furniture
by the
European
team which gave concrete signs of a durable involvement. The working groups
also
allowed
the local participants to regain self-confidence and capacity to cope with
the situation.
The
involvement of other actors such as local and regional authorities in the
working groups
also
were at the origin of regained element of social trust as presented above.
As a matter of
fact,
the relation between the population and the ETHOS research team on the
one hand and
between
the local, regional and national authorities and the ETHOS team on the
other hand
were
at the core of this process as the research team behaved as a mediator
between the two
parts
within the duration of the project.
Empowerment of the collective actors in the management of quality
But
the involvement of the local inhabitants remained intense and very demanding.
As the
economic
crisis arose in Belarus the individuals had to develop new activities by
any means
in
order to survive. The depreciation of salaries with a strong inflation
created a context where
for
instance local teachers or doctors had to develop farm activities in order
to provide their
families
with food. But in a more general way, as explained above, it was considered
by the
population
that the collective actors should take up the follow up responsibilities
as soon as
they
felt confident again in the situation. One could see here a switch from
social trust to
confidence
necessitated as soon as possible by the constraints of the day-to-day life
in order to
save
social resources. One could also consider that a new kind of normality
has been reached
within
this process of rehabilitation.
24
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of the
International
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IRPA,
Vol 1:105-111; 1996.
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Hériard Dubreuil G., Girard P. - Conditions de vie dans les territoires
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