Continuous innovation is key to increasing effectiveness in many fields, and that of nuclear emergency response is no exception. This was demonstrated at an event held on the margins of the 65th IAEA General Conference today.
At the event, ‘Recent Developments in Support of the IAEA Assessment and Prognosis Emergency Response Role’, the IAEA presented an upgraded version of its Reactor Assessment Tool and the new Database of Source Terms. These two tools support assessment and prognosis activities conducted by the IAEA and national authorities in the event of a nuclear emergency at a nuclear power plant. Assessment refers to getting a technical understanding of what happened based on facts and measured data, while prognosis refers to anticipating how the situation could evolve in the hours, days or weeks following an accident.
The assessment of the situation and the prognosis of possible progression during an emergency is one of the IAEA’s five emergency response roles agreed with national authorities following the 2011 Fukushima accident.
“The Reactor Assessment Tool and the Database of Source help responders anticipate how an emergency might develop,” said Frederic Stephani, Incident and Emergency Assessment Officer at the IAEA. “They are, therefore, key in supporting an effective emergency response.”
