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Emergency Planning & Response on a Nuclear Licensed Site (and Beyond)

Andrew Brown – Principal Assessor - Criticality

Springfields Fuels Limited - June 2024

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Scope of this talk

Brief overview of why emergency planning needs to be undertaken
Typical emergency planning and response at a UK licensed site
My roles and experience
Q&A (please feel free to ask questions as we go along)

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Domino Site

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Detailed Emergency Planning Zone (DEPZ)

Detailed Emergency Planning Zone (DEPZ) – required under REPPIR regulations and defined by the local council based on a review of a hazard consequence report by the Nuclear Licensed Site operator.

The Detailed Emergency Planning Zone is the area where Lancashire County Council and Springfields Fuels Limited have identified there is a need to have in place emergency arrangements which can be readily implemented, providing prompt protection to those who would be likely to be affected in the event of a radiation emergency. The protective actions which could be taken within this zone include sheltering indoors and, in extreme circumstances, evacuation.

The Outline Planning Zone surrounding Springfields Fuels Limited is 5km. Outline Planning Zones are always circles around specific sites and defining the zone this way allows those who will have to respond to such an event, such as police, fire and other emergency services, to draft public protection plans ready to be put into operation

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What might prompt an emergency response?

Some examples:

Fire
Leak / release of chemicals / toxic materials
Leak / release of radioactive materials
Criticality Event
Security Event
Issue on domino site

Potentially a combination of all of the above!

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First steps

Appointed group of personnel who oversee the site 24/7 (SPMs)

They oversee and attend to events and categorise them

Depending on severity, they will make a decision to form the Emergency Control Centre (ECC) function.

ECC is permanently manned but Emergency Responders ‘called’ in the event of an ‘emergency’.

I am an emergency responder – Nuclear Safety Advisor but could be called to any event to support or in case needed.

If off site I would be asked to come to site.

Each responder has a pack outlining their responsibilities

Engineers, radiation protection/health physics, COMAH specialists, security specialists, environmental specialists, communications, roll call, site security, fire brigade etc

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Focus

Work together on areas of focus from the time the response starts until the response is deemed over (which could be hours or days depending on the nature of the event).
In many cases response can initially be slow and then speed up as more information becomes available.
Important aspects are 3 way communications and recording decisions – can be difficult in stressful environment. Need to maintain control (next slide).

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Command and Control

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The M/ETHANE model is an established reporting framework.

Common structure for responders and their control rooms to share incident information.

Updated throughout response to support shared situational awareness for those responding to the incident and between control rooms.

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Example of some of my criticality duties (exercised only!)

Leading the criticality response in the ECC or going to the Criticality Assembly Point to support the interview process.
Going to the forward control point on site to support Blue Light Services and Site Personnel (possible re-entry into crit evac area or snatch rescue).
Go off-site to liaise with the Council, Regulators, Senior Police, Ambulance, Fire etc (Gold Command).
Remotely attend the Scientific & Technical Advice Cell (STAC) - which supports multi agency responses to events.
Lots of ways of working – on own, in multi disciplinary groups, using break out areas to work on actions (e.g. action to confirm worst case scenario or a recovery of an injured person).

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Other types of emergency response and planning not directly related to UK sites:

National Arrangements for Incident involving Radioactivity (NAIR)

NAIR is a set of national arrangements that provide a 'long-stop' to other emergency plans.

NAIR provides quick and widely available assistance to the police and other emergency services where no radiation expert is otherwise available. Assistance is provided in 2 stages and is drawn from hospitals, the nuclear industry and government departments.

Stage 1 assistance is normally provided by a single radiation expert or small team who, with the aid of simple monitoring equipment, can tell whether a radiation hazard exists and advise the police on appropriate action. If necessary, the police will be advised to obtain Stage 2 assistance.

Stage 2 assistance provides more sophisticated resources for handling the incident. This involves a small team of experts with readily available transport, monitoring and decontamination equipment and personal protective equipment

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Rad Safe

SFL do undertake other emergency planning and response:

RADSAFE is a consortium of organisations that have come together to offer mutual assistance in the event of a transport accident involving radioactive materials belonging to a RADSAFE member.

The RADSAFE plan evolved from a number of earlier emergency plans. RADSAFE ensures the early provision of advice and support to the emergency services.

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Thank You

westinghousenuclear.com