Decontamination strategies optimized for speed of reducing dangerous levels

We consider several scenarios of placement of endangered personnel or equipment in a contaminated zone where the contamination density is known and the contamination spatial effect decreases with the distance. A typical example is radiation contamination, where the radiation effect attenuates with the square of distance (geometric attenuation) and exponentially with distance due to air absorption. We assume that the decontamination means are characterized by the decontaminated area and linear speed. When the contamination density is known, algorithms for various scenarios can be determined for minimizing the total dose received by the rescued personnel. We exemplify the conditions for establishing the algorithm for optimal decontamination for several situations and show that, in general, evacuation paths should not be along lines.