On 18-19 October 2017, a command-and-staff exercise on responding to radiation emergencies will be held with the participation of the management bodies and forces of the State System for the Prevention and Elimination of Emergency Situations.
On 18-19 October 2017, a command-and-staff exercise on responding to radiation emergencies will be held with the participation of the management bodies and forces of the State System for the Prevention and Elimination of Emergency Situations.
Safety issues are a top priority for Belarus in the implementation of the country's first nuclear power programme. In accordance with international recommendations, states commissioning large nuclear power facilities must conduct a series of exercises to respond to potential incidents. The purpose of such exercises is to test the readiness of the operational response system, which is important, among other things, in the process of developing emergency action plans outside the NPP industrial site.
For facilities such as NPPs, there are concepts of design-basis accidents and beyond-design-basis accidents. For the Belarusian NPP, in the event of a design-basis accident, radioactive substances will not be released beyond the plant site. Nevertheless, in accordance with modern international approaches, countries must be prepared for actions in the event of beyond-design-basis accidents. Based on this, the plan for the first exercise deliberately incorporates a practically impossible beyond-design-basis scenario of events with the release of radioactive substances.
During the exercise, a wide range of issues will be studied in detail: interaction with neighbouring countries and international organisations, the functioning of crisis centres to support management decision-making in the event of radiation emergencies, iodine prophylaxis, temporary resettlement of people, supply of clean food products, and public notification and information.
The readiness of forces and means to respond in the Ostrovets district is planned to be checked. In order not to cause inconvenience to citizens, the evacuation drill will be conducted with the involvement of extras, and on the eve of the exercise, rescuers will inform all residents of the villages (183 people in eight settlements) located within a three-kilometre radius of the Belarusian NPP under construction about the upcoming exercise, the issues being practiced, and will train them on actions in case of a radiation emergency.
The readiness of the Belarusian NPP personnel to localize incidents is also planned, with practical training on the station's unit control console simulators.
Since several nuclear power plants are located near the territory of Belarus, practical training on scenarios will be conducted in many regions of the country with the involvement of various services: information dissemination and distribution, transport support, power supply, protection of agricultural animals and plants, and others.
In the Vitebsk region, actions in the event of a radiation accident will be practiced in the regional center, as well as in Orsha, Polotsk and Novopolotsk, Braslav, Verkhnedvinsk, Glubokskoye, Dokshitsy, Dubrovno, Lepel, Miory, Postavy, Liozno, Senno, Chashniki and Sharkovshchina districts.
By conducting the exercise, Belarus acts in strict accordance with the recommendations of the International Atomic Energy Agency and proceeds from the unconditional priority of ensuring safety in the implementation of the national nuclear energy program.