Perception-based analytical technique of evacuation behavior under radiological emergency: An illustration of the Kori area

Abstract

A simulation-based approach is proposed to study the protective actions taken by residents during nuclear emergencies using cognitive findings. Human perception-based behaviors are not heavily incorporated in the evacuation study for nuclear emergencies despite their known importance. This study proposes a generic framework of perception-based behavior simulation, in accordance with the ecological concept of affordance theory and a formal representation of affordance-based finite state automata. Based on the generic framework, a simulation model is developed to allow an evacuee to perceive available actions and execute one of them according to Newton’s laws of motion. The case of a shadow evacuation under nuclear emergency is utilized to demonstrate the applicability of the proposed framework. The illustrated planning algorithm enables residents to compute not only prior knowledge of the environmental map, but also the perception of dynamic surroundings, using widely observed heuristics. The simulation results show that the temporal and spatial dynamics of the evacuation behaviors can be analyzed based on individual perception of circumstances, while utilizing the findings in cognitive science under unavoidable data restriction of nuclear emergencies. The perception-based analysis of the proposed framework is expected to enhance nuclear safety technology by complementing macroscopic analyses for advanced protective measures.

Keywords

• Affordance theory
• Agent-based simulation
• Bandwagon effect
• Emergency evacuation
• Protective action
• Availability heuristic