Geographical information system based decision support system for nuclear disaster management in a hypothetical city

Abstract

An Improvised Nuclear device IND explosion within or near a city or town due to terrorist attack can cause catastrophic damage on buildings infrastructure basic amenities and shutting down of critical lifesafety systems Nuclear explosions produce immediate effects such as Blast thermal radiation prompt ionizing radiations and delayed destructive effects such as radioactive fallout and other possible environmental effects ranging over an extended period of time from hours to years Mitigating nuclear disasters is very difficult but lives can be saved by immediate response and recovery at the time of explosion The main objective of the study is to investigate the immediate effects of Improvised Nuclear Device IND explosion in a hypothetical city and to develop a smart Decision Support System DSS Geographical Information System GIS is used as a spatial analyst tool to develop the DSS to assess damage to buildings impact on population and to identify emergency evacuation routes number of required bunkers and their locations etc The entire study is divided into three distinct phases