Evaluating urban resilience in a disruptive radioactive event

Environments that have been contaminated by radiation are complex, and when such contamination occurs over an inhabited urban area the complexity increases. This study proposes a relatively simple model used to assess the resilience of an urban area in the face of a radioactive threat, and to inform decision-making. To this end, a computer simulation is applied to limited data in an environment of radioactive contamination. Events of this nature produce a multidisciplinary decision environment. Decision-makers are subject to influences of all kinds. Therefore decisions are influenced by both technical and cognitive factors. In the structure of the proposed model there is the possibility of implementing adjustments that reduce such influences. This study presents an empirical equation for assessing the resilience of an urban area under radioactive threat.