Realization of an international emergency exercise involving a transport of radioactive material

Transports of radioactive materials are regularly performed in an international context and the possibility of accidents with cross-border consequences cannot be excluded. 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 consider this topic in the framework of the European project PREPARE and to include 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 organization 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 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.This exercise, the first involving an international transport of radioactive materials, took place in the Emergency Technical Centre of IRSN 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 Organizations (TSO), respectively BEL V and IRSN, and the major French operator AREVA TN International.Lessons learned from this experience allowed participants to create a feedback and highlighted the importance of communication between competent authorities and the necessary coordination of local intervention teams.