NATO STO

The ongoing proliferation of nuclear weapons together with increasing awareness about the potential means to weaponise radiological material are both creating an increased nuclear/radiological hazard which has the potential to disrupt and compromise NATO military operations. There is a clear need to research and develop new and improved methods to counter these nuclear/radiological threats. The Research Task Group, HFM-291 RTG, updated diagnostic tools that had been developed in previous RTG life cycles and contributed to the establishment and (FDA) approval of new therapeutics for the prevention and treatment of radiation injuries. However, each completed improvement in the diagnosis or therapy for radiation health effects just reflects part of a stepwise progression against a threat which has multiple, complex effects on human health and operational capability. Just like research in the fight against cancer, the development of innovative diagnostics or therapeutics adds to an arsenal of countermeasures but does not remove the threat entirely. Much more needs to be done as new advances expose further gaps in knowledge but present new opportunities. For example, numerous accidental or explosion scenarios involving radioactive sources or nuclear weapons would result in variety of injuries (crush, fracture, blast, wound, hemorrhage, and burn) in addition to radiation injury – a situation known as ‘combined injury syndrome CIS)’. The pathophysiology of this syndrome can now be revisited in light of recent innovative advances in experimental technology (e.g. all the “omics”). Through the use of biomarkers, a better understanding of the timing of radiation response onset and injury progression in CIS should help optimise new treatments (e.g., cell therapy). Particular knowledge gaps and opportunities also exist around the health impact of lower doses that may be encountered in future operations, the nature of multi-organ dysfunction syndrome and failure (MODS/MOF), and other aspects such as risk communication and civilian-military cooperation. The proposed RTG is required because no member nation alone has the expertise and resources to make progress in all these areas of concern. The previous RTG life cycles have also shown how the RTG acts as a powerful platform that both enables and stimulates collaboration between nations, which in turn reduce the cost of research and accelerate progress. For instance, from the previous RTG life cycle 24 of 85 publications (28%) derived from collaborations among participating nations. The proposed RTG should address the specific topics listed below. In addition, the RTG intends working on a joint multinational project to be funded by the European Defence Fund within this RTG life cycle.