RISK, VULNERABILITY AND SURVIVAL: SOME POST CHERNOBYL
01 January 1991
RISK, VULNERABILITY AND SURVIVAL: SOME POST CHERNOBYL
IMPLICATIONS FOR PEOPLE, PLANNING AND CIVIL DEFENCE
refdoc August=1991
JOURNAL ARTICLE , User Ref = 011869 , Acc Date = 01-Dec-87
J Lewis , DATUM International
Local Gov Stud, Jul/Aug 1987 13(4) pp75-93
Many believe that the impact of a major nuclear disaster, either
civil or military, would be so catastrophic that any attempt to
protect the population is pointless. Questions the validity of
this assumption and suggests that it arises from a confusion
between the concepts of risk and vulnerability. Criticises the
existing organisation of civil defence, particularly its reliance
on emergency communications systems and its military overtones.
Survival will depend on the maintenance of morale and self
reliance as much as the provision of food and shelter, and there
is a strong case for a separate civil survival strategy alongside
that for civil defence. This is a natural extension of local
authority emergency planning responsibilities and should involve
measures to make everyone aware of potential risk. Civil survival
should be organised at the neighbourhood level, and the
implications for local government planning and service delivery
are discussed.
United Kingdom, disaster, risk management
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