Joint Nordic nuclear research to strengthen nuclear emergency preparedness after the Fukushima accident

Contrary to most areas of Europe, the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and the Faroe Islands) have for many years shared a regional research and development program on nuclear reactor safety and emergency preparedness - NKS. In spite of its project results having received great recognition and having been integrated in state-of-the-art emergency preparedness tools over the world, NKS as an organization does not seem well known outside the Nordic countries. Although the Fukushima accident had no health impact at all in Nordic areas, it taught a number of lessons of generic nature with respect to new R&D tasks that could further strengthen and secure future maintenance of the Nordic region's capability to effectively respond to such events. For broader inspiration, this paper briefly introduces the Nordic nuclear emergency preparedness cooperation channels and outlines the related NKS R&D project initiatives launched after the Fukushima accident, many of which should be of general interest also far outside the region. The paper is intended as an introduction to NKS with an invitation to explore its results. All project results are available cost-free on the NKS website.