CNCAN 5
Enhancing CNCAN's capabilities in the field of emergency preparedness and response

Purpose:

Strengthening CNCAN's capacity and effectiveness for radiological emergency preparedness and response, and improving institutional cooperation, at both national and international level, between Romania's regulatory authority and similar partner organizations in the country or abroad.

Strengthening the exchange of experience in the field of emergency preparedness and response between CNCAN, as the competent authority in the nuclear field in Romania, and NRPA, CNCAN's counterpart in Norway, as a continuation of the activities carried out within the bilateral cooperation between Romania and Norway under the ”Regional Excellence Programme for Romania - Safe Nuclear Energy”, financed from Norwegian grants and supported by NRPA, carried out in the period 2009 – 2011.

Background:

As early as 2004, CNCAN set up its own Emergency Response Centre (CNCAN-ERC) as the focal point for its emergency preparedness and response activities. CNCAN's 2004 strategy was improved under the PHARE project RO 5812.06.01 entitled “Technical assistance for the Romanian regulatory body's emergency response centre”, a project that incorporated a vision inspired by the emergency centres of the European regulatory authorities in states with a long-standing tradition in the nuclear field.

In accordance with the current arrangements and the corresponding legislative framework, the Emergency Response Centre (CNCAN-ERC) is an operational centre belonging to the existing national emergency management system.

Under the ”Regional Excellence Programme for Romania - Safe Nuclear Energy”, carried out in the period 2009 -2011, CNCAN significantly improved its infrastructure and knowledge in the field of emergency preparedness and response, benefiting from the financial support of the Norwegian Government and from the international expert reviews carried out under the coordination of the IAEA.

As early as 2010, within the EPREV mission conducted by IAEA experts (with NRPA experts as observers), the assessment of the national capabilities and arrangements in the nuclear field began, continuing with the development of tools and methodologies for assessing emergency preparedness and response, until the completion of the Regional Excellence Programme for Romania - Safe Nuclear Energy, when CNCAN achieved important results, such as: the technical documentation containing generic procedures for the assessment of nuclear accidents at CANDU-type and TRIGA-type reactors; a RODOS-type decision support system for dose assessments in radiological emergency situations; a general platform for the exchange of data and information during radiological emergency situations (ELAN-E Romania); specific training programmes for the response to radiological emergency situations; and the organization and conduct of exercises on the response to radiological emergency situations.

In total, under the Regional Excellence Programme for Romania - Safe Nuclear Energy, two IAEA missions that assessed radiological emergency preparedness and response were carried out: the EPREV mission conducted in March 2010 and the IRRS mission conducted in January 2011.

Taking into account the recommendations resulting from the IRRS and EPREV missions, the opportunities for improvement identified and the lessons learned from the implementation of the former “Safe Nuclear Energy” programme, the present sub-project is a continuation that further develops the activities of the previous project and will focus mainly on the following specific topics: equipping the Emergency Response Centre, revising and developing specific emergency response procedures, carrying out national assessments for all types of threats involving the use of ionizing radiation, improving the old methodologies and tools or developing new ones for radiological consequence assessments, improving and harmonizing emergency planning, as well as collaboration at regional and European level in radiological emergency situations.

Collaboration under the sub-project will be achieved through the cooperation and efforts of the Norwegian side and of the IAEA Incident and Emergency Centre (IEC), in order to strengthen institutional capacities and international cooperation in the field of radiological emergency preparedness and response.

Norwegian knowledge and experience will be used in close connection with the actual situation and the expected developments in Romania, with the aim of improving the competences and skills of CNCAN and NRPA staff, as well as cooperation, the exchange of information and mutual assistance between Romania and Norway with regard to radiological emergency preparedness and response activities.

Results:

The programme will achieve its purpose described above and will lead in particular to the following results:

• The report of the expert mission, which will contain the results of the national-level assessment of threats relating to ionizing radiation, with the classification of nuclear and radiological installations in accordance with the requirements of IAEA standard GSR-R-2;
• Equipping CNCAN-ERC with radiation monitoring devices, personal protective equipment, IT equipment and means of communication, together with the associated procedures and the training of staff in the use of the new equipment and procedures;
• The updated version of the ELAN-E Romania emergency communication platform (for use by CNCAN);
• The “S3 Exercise” software purchased and installed at CNCAN-ERC, and staff trained in its use;
• Aquatic models for the assessment of radiological consequences purchased and installed at CNCAN-ERC, and staff trained (for CNCAN users and for potential NRPA users);
• Technical solutions for the use of weather forecast data for calculating atmospheric dispersion, and staff trained (for CNCAN users and for potential NRPA users);
• Technical solutions for collecting radiological data, processing them and producing maps that include the data collected, and staff trained (for CNCAN users and for potential NRPA users);
• Emergency response procedures for severe accidents occurring at CANDU-type reactors, which include results of the nuclear safety assessments provided for in the IAEA guides and the dose calculations performed under various meteorological conditions;
• Emergency response procedures for severe accidents at the TRIGA-type reactor, which contain the results of the nuclear safety assessments provided for in the IAEA guides and the dose calculations performed under various meteorological conditions;
• Training modules developed for the emergency response organization of the nuclear regulatory authority;
• Training of CNCAN staff and of the staff of partner institutions in the field of radiological emergency response (medical response, environmental monitoring, etc.);
• Training materials/documentation;
• New or revised specific regulations on emergency preparedness and response at nuclear installations;
• Specific regulations for dose assessment in the event of radiological incidents/accidents;
• Joint BULGARIA – ROMANIA radiological emergency response exercise with a scenario involving the road transport of radioactive materials - the Joint Draft of the RO – BUL Action Plan for the response to radiological emergencies with transboundary impact, and the exercise evaluation report.