EU Workshop on Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Research (CBRNR), 9-10 November 2010, Brussels. Final report

This first 1.5 day EU workshop on CBRN Research organized by the EC (DG ENTR) was well attended with 124 participants from 21 countries including many representatives from end user organizations. Major outcomes: first of all, in session 1 on EU institutional stakeholders, the high added value of continuous information sharing and cooperation between EC services sharing CBRN responsibilities (HOME, JRC, SANCO, MOVE, RTD, ECHO, RELEX and AIDCO) and the EDA on civil-military dual research has been well confirmed by all speakers and participants. Session 1 also demonstrated the internal and external dimension of CBRN (e.g. Regional CBRN centers of excellence). Secondly, session 2 on end users has enlightened the essential role and responsibility of end users, early on in the CBRN research activities (design, specification, testing, validation, training, field exercises). Experience from incidents needs to be shared, although classification makes that difficult. Integration of field and real exercises are crucial to make applications accepted. Equipments and systems must be simple, robust, easy to use and affordable (cost and procurement feasibility). Solutions should be acceptable at the citizen level, respecting their privacy and rights. Civil protection forces and first responders are key stakeholders in this process. Sharing of information from intelligence databases and expertise has also been recognized. Finally, session 3 on demonstration activities revealed the way to a demonstration program on CBRN(E), with a key conclusion being that coordination between all CBRN stakeholders (prevention to recovery) is crucial. The examples of existing and recent CBRN(E) regional/national clusters or platforms are quite interesting and could pave the way or contribute to such a challenging program. Report annexes include recommendations for R&D priorities and possible 2011-2012 follow up workshops.