Speaker
Mr
Nicolas DENERT
(IRSN)
Description
Transports of radioactive materials are regularly performed in an international context and accidents
with cross-border consequences cannot be avoided. Therefore, there is a need to harmonize
emergency response or at least to have a clear understanding of other countries emergency plans. To
that end, it was proposed to include a study dedicated to this topic in the European project PREPARE
(Innovative integrative tools and Platforms to be prepared for Radiological Emergencies and Post-
Accident Response in Europe) including various objectives relative to the off-site nuclear emergency
response and preparedness in European countries notably in case of transport accident.
The first step of this project was to clearly describe the national and local emergency organisation
and preparedness in the European countries participating to the project (France, United Kingdom
and Belgium) especially in case of accident involving a transport of radioactive material. The
description of local requirements was obtained using a specific questionnaire in order to have the
same level of information in each country.
The second step of this project was to test, in case of an accident scenario involving an international
transport of radioactive material, the emergency plans applied and the communications between
two neighboring countries (France and Belgium). A table top exercise was organized to evaluate the
accident management process including, on the one hand all phases relative to alerts, reflex actions,
information exchange and concerted assessment, on the other hand public information and solution
to bring back the transport in a safe status. The accident and all the emergency response teams of
each organization were located in adjacent meeting rooms in order to provide the necessary
information to the participants and to monitor the flow of information. This exercise, the first
involving an international transport of radioactive materials, took place in the Emergency Technical
Centre of IRSN (Institut de Radioprotection et de Sûreté Nucléaire) located in Fontenay-aux-Roses in
France. More than 30 peoples were involved including representatives of the Belgian competent
authority (Federal Agency for Nuclear Control – FANC), the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) as
well as their Technical Safety Operators (TSO), respectively BEL V and IRSN, and the major French
operator AREVA TN International. This exercise mainly highlighted communication between
competent authorities and the necessary coordination of local intervention teams. Lessons learned
from this experience allowed participants to create a feedback and to improve concerted European
emergency management in case of accident involving an international transport of radioactive
material.
| Country or International Organisation | IRSN (France) |
|---|
Author
Mr
Nicolas DENERT
(IRSN)
Co-authors
Mr
Benoît ECKERT
(IRSN)
Mr
Igor LE BARS
(IRSN)
Mr
Karim BEN OUAGHREM
(IRSN)
Mrs
Marie-Thérèse LIZOT
(IRSN)
Mr
Olivier ISNARD
(IRSN)
Mr
Yacine CHEGRANI
(IRSN)
Peer reviewing
Paper
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