Towards an All-Hazards Approach to Emergency Preparedness and Response

         The field of emergency management is broad, complex and dynamic. In the post-Fukushima context, emergency preparedness and response (EPR) in the nuclear sector is more than ever being seen as part of a broader framework. The OECD has recommended that its members “establish and promote a comprehensive, allhazards and transboundary approach to country risk governance to serve as the foundation for enhancing national resilience and responsiveness”. In order to achieve such an all-hazards approach to emergency management, a major step in the process will be to consider experiences from the emergency management of hazards emanating from a variety of sectors.         The NEA Working Party on Nuclear Emergency Matters (WPNEM) joined forces with the OECD Working Group on Chemical Accidents (WGCA), the OECD Public Governance and Territorial Development Directorate’s High-Level Risk Forum (HLRF) and the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) to collaborate on this report, which demonstrates similarities between emergency planning and preparedness across sectors, and identifies lessons learnt and good practices in diverse areas for the benefit of the international community. A set of expert contributions, enriched with a broad range of national experiences, are presented in the report to take into account expertise gathered from the emergency management of hazards other than those emanating from the nuclear sector in an effort to support and foster an all-hazards approach to EPR.      