National Preparedness for Inhalation and Ingestion Screening
Managing the “walking well” problem during mass radiological incidents
One of the biggest operational challenges in a large-scale radiological or nuclear contamination event is not simply identifying contaminated individuals. It is managing the enormous number of people who believe they may have been exposed.
Emergency planners refer to this as the “walking well”.
These are individuals who are frightened, potentially exposed, or uncertain about contamination status, but who may not actually require specialist medical intervention or complex internal contamination assessment.
In a major uranium contamination scenario involving dust, particulate, fallout, damaged fuel, industrial release, or a radiological dispersal device, hospitals, emergency departments, reception centres, and screening facilities could rapidly become overwhelmed by large numbers of self-presenting individuals seeking reassurance.
Without scalable triage capability, this creates several problems:
- specialist testing capacity becomes overwhelmed,
- critical resources are diverted from genuinely contaminated casualties,
- hospitals become congested,
- decontamination systems slow down,
- and emergency response timelines deteriorate rapidly.
This is where practical front-line screening capability becomes strategically important.
Lessons from Goiânia: mass panic vs actual contamination
The 1987 Goiânia cesium-137 incident in Brazil remains one of the clearest real-world examples of the “walking well” phenomenon during a radiological contamination event.
Following the accidental spread from an abandoned source:
- approximately 112,000 people presented for radiological screening,
- but only 249 individuals were ultimately found to be contaminated,
- and only a much smaller subset required significant medical treatment.
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Therefore, over 99% of screened individuals were not significantly contaminated.
The scale of the screening burden was extraordinary. The Olympic Stadium in Goiânia was converted into a mass triage and contamination assessment centre because existing healthcare infrastructure could not absorb the surge of concerned citizens.
This is a critical preparedness lesson for North America, NATO, EU member states, and allied nations, the operational challenge is not only contamination — it is scalable triage.
Imagine if this capability existed: Subject presents, wipes face, exposed skin then clothing, waits 15 min. If the wipe turns purple, they go for further testing. If not, they are cleared to go home with an information sheet of symptoms to look out for and where to present if they do.
Why inhalation and ingestion screening becomes the bottleneck
External contamination screening is already difficult at scale.
Internal contamination assessment is substantially harder.
If uranium oxides such as UO₂ are dispersed during a radiological dispersal device event, fuel-cycle accident, military contamination incident, transport release, industrial sabotage event,or damaged nuclear infrastructure scenario, What needs to be protected during an event like this? Time consuming, further specialist internal contamination assessment methods such as:
- urine bioassay,
- faecal analysis,
- whole-body counting,
- lung counting,
- radiochemical analysis,
- and dose reconstruction
Without triage capability, healthcare systems risk becoming paralysed by precautionary demand.
CodeNu as a national triage layer
CodeNu dry wipes provide rapid uranium and plutonium contamination screening, including uranium oxides such as UO₂.
From a national preparedness perspective, the strategic value is not that CodeNu replaces laboratory analysis or internal contamination assessment.
Its value is that it helps determine who should move forward for expensive confirmatory testing and who likely does not need it.
This creates an operational screening layer between mass public concern and scarce specialist radiological resources.
If an evacuee, responder, vehicle, PPE item, shelter area, decontamination corridor, or worker is CodeNu-clean, that information may help authorities:
- reduce unnecessary escalation,
- reduce hospital overload,
- prioritise specialist resources,
- accelerate discharge and reassurance,
- and allow unaffected individuals to safely return home
The importance of rapidly clearing the unaffected population
During a major radiological incident, the majority of people presenting for assessment may ultimately prove not to be contaminated.
However, until they are screened, they still consume hospital capacity, decontamination resources, emergency personnel, protective equipment, transport infrastructure, and public-health attention.
This is especially important in NATO and allied civil preparedness planning because modern hybrid threats increasingly involve:
- radiological dispersal risks,
- critical infrastructure attacks,
- contamination panic,
- and psychological disruption.
The operational objective is not simply contamination detection. It is restoring functional decision-making at scale.
Why dry wipes are operationally useful in stockpile planning
National stockpile tools must be scalable, rapidly deployable, simple to distribute, usable by non-specialist responders, and effective in chaotic environments.
CodeNu dry wipes align well with these operational realities because they can potentially support screening across:
- mass casualty reception centres,
- evacuation points,
- hospitals,
- military CBRN operations,
- border crossings,
- transport hubs,
- emergency shelters,
- field decontamination corridors,
- and critical infrastructure sites.
This allows contamination awareness to move closer to the operational edge rather than relying solely on specialist laboratory infrastructure.
A preparedness capability for NATO, North America, the EU, and allies
For NATO, North America, EU member states, and allied nations, the strategic challenge is clear radiological incidents create mass uncertainty, specialist testing capacity is limited and public fear can overwhelm healthcare systems faster than contamination itself.
The Goiânia incident demonstrated that tens of thousands of people may seek screening even when only a small fraction are significantly contaminated.
Future incidents involving uranium-bearing material could create similar or even larger surges in demand for inhalation and ingestion assessment.
A stockpiled rapid screening capability helps authorities:
- identify likely uncontaminated individuals faster,
- preserve specialist radiological resources,
- support triage decision-making,
- reduce operational bottlenecks,
- and improve national resilience during large-scale radiological emergencies.
Internal contamination preparedness requires scalable triage
Mass radiological incidents are not managed successfully through laboratory capacity alone. CodeNu dry wipes provide a practical uranium and plutonium screening capability designed to support this front-line triage layer.
For national preparedness planners, the value is straightforward, helping distinguish who requires escalation and who can go home with less risk.