The goals of the current study are twofold:
• To evaluate the regional, population impacts of shelter-evacuate strategy options:
Previous work has emphasized specific points within the hazardous fallout area to show
the relative benefits of various shelter-evacuate strategies. However, to evaluate the
effectiveness of a strategy, the distribution of radiation exposures to regional inhabitants
in executing the strategy is required. This project has developed and exercised the
NUclear EVacuation Analysis Code (NUEVAC) to estimate this distribution.
• To understand the robustness of shelter-evacuate strategies: The baseline analyses
for population effectiveness calculations make many idealized assumptions regarding
knowledge of the fallout hazard zones, ability to determine and communicate a shelterevacuate
strategy, and compliance by the affected population. In a real event, many of
these enabling factors would be imperfectly implemented due to a wide range of
technical and human factors. While a full uncertainty analysis is beyond the scope of this
project, exemplary points are analyzed to illustrate the sensitivities to key technical
issues, such as those outlined below.
of the fallout region and in the exit route can make evacuation a risky strategy. Analyses
indicate that only a relatively small fraction of the total urban population may experience
significant dose reduction benefits from even a well-informed evacuation plan.