Assessment and evaluation of the radiological situation in the late phase of a nuclear accident

An overview of existing approaches on assessing and evaluating the radiological situation in the late phase of a nuclear accident is given in this paper. Special attention is paid to the weak points of existing approachesand to problems to be solved in the future. Assessment of the radiological situation can be based on both monitoring data and model predictions. Approaches have been developed for many years in both categories and have meanwhile reached some kind of maturity and also operational applicability. Nevertheless, some areas exist where significant improvements could be achieved in the near future, e.g. by combining monitoring data and model predictions, by improving the modelling of urban areas or by improving existing radioecological models.