IAEA International Atomic Energy Agency Emergency Response Overview of Basic Concepts in Emergency Preparedness and Response Day 10 – Lecture 2

IAEA Objective To learn about the concepts and principles apply to different practices and sources with the potential for causing radiation exposure or environmental radioactive contamination warranting emergency intervention, and to all countries and regions that might need to implement emergency intervention 2

IAEA Content Objectives of emergency response and preparedness Basic responsibilities Assessment of threats Functional and infrastructure requirements Concepts of operations Summary 3

IAEA Introduction Preparedness for emergency response is needed because  Accidents happen  Preparedness helps save lives and minimize risks to health and environment  Response with preparedness costs less than response without it  Response without preparedness can affect credibility of authorities The objectives of the lesson are to present goals, principles and basic concepts of emergency response in case of nuclear or radiological emergencies 4

IAEA Objectives of Emergency Response To mitigate the consequences of an emergency or event at its origin To prevent the occurrence of deterministic effects in individuals To render first aid and to treat injuries To reduce, using reasonable steps, the occurrence of stochastic effects in the population To limit the occurrence of non-radiological effects in individuals and in the population To protect the environment and property 5

IAEA Objectives of Emergency Preparedness To assure the capability to respond in a timely, effective, appropriate and coordinated manner to any nuclear or radiological emergency at all levels: User or facility level Local level Regional level National level International level 6

IAEA Basic Responsibilities Adequate preparations must be established and maintained at local and national and, where agreed between countries, at the international level to respond to emergencies The arrangements for emergency response actions both within and outside facilities, if applicable, or elsewhere under the control of the operator, are dealt with through the regulatory process 7

IAEA Basic Responsibilities (cont’d) The regulatory body has to require that emergency plans be prepared for the on-site area for any practice or source, that could necessitate an emergency intervention The regulatory body must ensure that these plans are integrated with those of other response organizations as appropriate before the commencement of operation 8

IAEA Basic Responsibilities (cont’d) The country must periodically ensure, by means of an appropriate organization, that a review is conducted in order to identify any practice or event that could necessitate an emergency intervention It must also ensure that an assessment of the radiological threat is conducted for those practices 9

IAEA Assessment of Threats The nature and extent of emergency arrangements have to be commensurate with the potential magnitude and nature of the hazard associated with the facility or activity The threat assessment must be periodically reviewed to take into account changes in to the threats within and outside the country and the experience and lessons from previous events involving relevant practices and sources 10

IAEA Assessment of Threats (cont’d) The threat assessment has to identify installations, sources, practices, on-site areas, off-site areas or locations for which nuclear or radiological emergencies could warrant: precautionary urgent protective actions to prevent severe deterministic health effects urgent protective actions to reduce stochastic effects agricultural and ingestion countermeasures and long term protective measures protection for the workers undertaking an intervention 11

IAEA Threat Categories Nuclear and radiation threats are grouped according to the five threat categories Categories I through IV represent decreasing levels of threat and therefore decreasing emergency preparedness and response requirements Category IV is the minimum level of threat assumed to exist everywhere and thus always applies possibly along with other categories Category V is a special category and may apply along with other categories 12

IAEA Threat Categories Threat Category Radiological Threat I Severe deterministic health effects off-site II Warranting urgent protective actions off-site, deterministic health effects on-site III No urgent protective actions off-site are warranted, severe deterministic health effects on-site IV Minimum level of threat – all countries V Food contamination due to transboundary contamination necessitating food restrictions 13

IAEA Threat Category I and II Power reactors and facilities with large amounts of spent fuel or dispersible radioactive material Primary risk: atmospheric release Facilities with potential for uncontrolled criticalities Primary risk: gamma and neutron shine dose On-site dose rates may be very high (>10 Gy/h) Beta emitter contamination Serious detrimental psychological and economical impact 14

IAEA Threat Category III Reactors < 2 MW (th) Irradiators, industrial radiography, teletherapy, fuel fabrication, spent fuel storage, reprocessing of spent fuel Primary risk: significant exposure on site (high dose rates, beta emitter contamination) No credible emergencies postulated for which urgent off-site protective actions are warranted 15

IAEA Threat Category IV Applies to emergencies involving Uncontrolled sources Transport Severe overexposure Terrorist threats or criminal activities Primary risk: overexposure, facility contamination, public contamination 16

IAEA Threat Category V For areas within the food restriction radius for the affected facility in threat category I or II Primary risk: country wide contamination Restrictions on food and agricultural products may be needed 17

IAEA Planning Areas and Zones Areas On-site area Off-site area Zones Precautionary Action Zone (PAZ) Urgent Protective Action Planning Zone (UPZ) Food restrictions planning radius 18

IAEA Concept of Emergency Planning Zones 19

IAEA Response and Planning Zones Sizes FacilityPAZUPZFRPD Category I 0.5 – 5 km5 – 25 km50 – 250 km Category II None0.2 – 5 km2 – 100 km Category III None PAZ – Precautionary Action Zone UPZ – Urgent Protective Planning Zone FRPR – Food Restrictions Planning Radius 20

IAEA Planning Zone vs. Response Zones Planning Zones are for planning, i.e. this does not mean that protective actions will not be required outside those zones 21

IAEA Planning Levels and Responsibilities Effective emergency response requires mutually supportive and integrated emergency planning at three levels: User Off-site International 22

IAEA Responsibilities – User Level To mitigate the emergency To protect people on-site To notify off-site officials and providing them with recommendations on protective actions and technical assistance To provide initial radiological monitoring 23

IAEA Responsibilities – Off-site Level Local officials: to provide immediate support to the user and prompt protection to the public in the vicinity National and regional officials: to plan and response on the national level to plan longer term protective actions to support local officials in the event their capabilities are exceeded 24

IAEA Responsibilities – International Level To implement Notification and Assistance Convention IAEA, countries “Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident” and “Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear or Radiological Emergency”. The parties to the Notification Convention commit to notify forthwith those countries that may be physically affected by an accident. To provide technical, humanitarian or medical assistance UNDHA, WHO, others 25

IAEA Emergency Classes and Conditions Response to an emergency requires rapid and coordinated response This can be accomplished by using internationally agreed classification system: General emergency Site area emergency Facility emergency Alert Uncontrolled source emergency 26

IAEA General Emergency Threat Category I and II Should be declared when an actual or substantial risk of a release of radioactive material warranting immediate implementation of urgent protective actions off-site exists Actions should be promptly taken to: mitigate the event protect people on-site protect people within PAZ and UPZ (as appropriate) 27

IAEA Site Area Emergency Threat Category I and II Should be declared when a major decrease in the level of protection for those on-site and near the facility occurs Actions should be promptly taken to: mitigate the event protect people on-site make preparations to implement protective actions off-site (if necessary) 28

IAEA Facility Emergency Threat Category I, II and III Should be declared when a major decrease in the level of protection for workers on-site occurs Actions should be promptly taken to: mitigate the event protect people on-site Note: this class does not represent an off-site threat 29

IAEA Alert Threat Category I, II and III Should be declared when an uncertain or significant decrease in the level of protection for the on-site personnel or the public occurs Actions should be promptly taken to: Assess and mitigate the event Increase the readiness of the on- and off- site response organisations (as appropriate) 30

IAEA Uncontrolled Source Emergency Occurs in case of lost, stolen or loss of control of a threat category IV dangerous sources First responders should take appropriate actions to minimise the consequences of emergency 31

IAEA International Nuclear Event Scale – INES The emergency classification should not be confused with the International Nuclear Event Scale – INES INES is designed to indicate how serious an event was after it is understood and is NOT the basis for the response 32

IAEA Preparedness and Response Two sets of requirements Functional (response) requirements Infrastructure (preparedness) requirements Infrastructure requirements must be fulfilled to ensure that functional requirements of response can be performed when needed 33

IAEA Functional Requirements Establishing emergency management and operations Identifying, notifying and activating Performing mitigatory actions Taking urgent protective actions Providing information and issuing instructions and warnings to the public Protecting emergency workers 34

IAEA Functional Requirements (cont.) Assessing the initial phase Managing the medical response Keeping the public informed Taking agricultural countermeasures, countermeasures against ingestion and longer-term protective actions Mitigating the non-radiological consequences of the emergency and the response Conducting recovery operations 35

IAEA Infrastructure Elements Authority Organisation Coordination Plans and procedures Logistical support and facilities Quality assurance and programme maintenance 36

IAEA Integrated Planning Concept Response to radiation emergency may be caused by or may involve different types of hazards Natural (e.G. Storms) Technological (e.G. Radiation) Biological Criminal activity Plans and procedures for response to all hazards should be structured into coherent and interlocking system 37

IAEA Integrated Planning Concept 38

IAEA Concepts of Operations Threat Category I The facility staff Classifies the emergency Notifies jurisdictions within PAZ and UPZ Takes all possible actions to prevent or reduce the release Provides protective action recommendations to off-site officials (within 15 min) Rapidly monitor in PAZ and UPZ until relieved by off-site officials 39

IAEA Concepts of Operations Threat Category I – cont’d Local officials Provide police, fire fighting and medical assistance to the site (if requested) Decide on the protective actions for the public Inform the public (within 1 hour) National level officials Notify IAEA and other countries Support the local officials Conduct monitoring further from the site Conduct joint media briefings Coordinate longer-term protective actions 40

IAEA Concepts of Operations Threat Category II The facility staff Classifies the emergency Notifies jurisdictions within the UPZ Takes all possible actions to prevent or reduce the release or shine dose Provides protective action recommendations (within 15 min) Monitor near the site until relieved by off-site officials 41

IAEA Concepts of Operations Threat Category II – cont’d Local officials Provide police, fire fighting and medical assistance to the site (if requested) Recommend, within 1 hour, protective actions to the people within the UPZ National level officials Support the local officials Conduct monitoring further from the site Conduct joint media briefings 42

IAEA Concepts of Operations Threat Category III The facility Declares a facility emergency Notifies local off-site officials Ensures that all people on-site are provided with appropriate protection Conduct the environmental monitoring 43

IAEA Concepts of Operations Threat Category III – cont’d Local off-site officials Provide police, fire fighting and medical assistance to the site if requested Inform the media National level officials Support the local officials Assist in obtaining specialised treatment through the IAEA (if needed) Conduct joint media briefings 44

IAEA Concepts of Operations Threat Category IV First responders Take life saving actions Notify local off-site officials Local officials take precautions to confine radioactive material and to protect people in the immediate vicinity National officials Dispatch survey and response personnel Request assistance through IAEA (if needed) Brief the media 45

IAEA Concepts of Operations Threat Category V The country where the accident occurs notifies the potentially affected states Upon receipt of notification national officials Provide instructions to the public and farmers Conduct monitoring and sampling Develop programme to deal with long-term impact 46

IAEA Summary Accidents do happen Concepts of emergency response are based on ICRP principles and IAEA recommendations Good planning in advance of emergency can substantially improve the response Chance favors prepared The response to a radiation emergency is basically the same as the response to any accident involving hazardous material 47