In case of a nuclear accident, adequate protection of the public and the environment requires timely assessment of the short- and long-term radiological exposure. Measurements of the radiation dose and the radioactive contamination in the environment are essential for the optimization of radiation protection and the decision making process. In the early phase, however, such measurements are rarely available or sufficient.To compensate for the lack of monitoring data during nuclear emergencies, especially in the early phase of the emergency, mathematical models are frequently used to assess the temporal and spatial distribution of radioactive contamination. During the transition and recovery phase, models are typically used to optimise remediation strategies by assessing the cost-effectiveness of different countermeasures. A prerequisite of course is that these models are fit for purpose. Different models may be needed during different phases of the accident. In this paper, we discuss the role of radioecological models during a nuclear emergency, and give an outlook on the scientific challenges which need to be addressed to further improve our predictions of human and wildlife exposure.

万一发生核事故，要充分保护公众和环境，就需要及时评估短期和长期的放射暴露。测量辐射剂量和环境中的放射性污染物对于优化辐射防护和决策过程至关重要。但是，在早期阶段，此类测量很少可用或不足。为了补偿核紧急情况下（尤其是在紧急情况的早期阶段）缺乏监视数据，经常使用数学模型来评估放射性的时空分布污染。在过渡和恢复阶段，通常通过评估不同对策的成本效益来使用模型来优化补救策略。当然，前提条件是这些模型适合目标。在事故的不同阶段可能需要不同的模型。在本文中，我们讨论了放射生态学模型在核紧急情况下的作用，并展望了需要进一步解决我们对人类和野生生物暴露的预测所要应对的科学挑战。