You cannot be “too prepared” for a nuclear or radiological emergency. That is why emergency exercise scenarios should include challenging, high risk, low probability events.
Last week a planned IAEA coordinated “ConvEx-2b exercise” went ahead and saw the participation of 35 countries and two Regional Specialized Meteorological Centres (RSMCS) of the World Meteorological Organization. The three-day exercise, from 24 to 26 March, was conducted while the responders in many Member States and in the IAEA’s Incident and Emergency Centre (IEC) in Vienna worked remotely to support measures taken to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus — COVID-19.
IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi chaired a mid-exercise meeting of the Incident and Emergency System Steering Group and told participants: “We need to be prepared for the possibility that nuclear and radiological emergencies resulting from a safety or security event could be accompanied by natural disasters, pandemics or other crises. Conducting this exercise at a time when all of our lives are being seriously disrupted by the coronavirus crisis demonstrates our determination to maintain our emergency response capability, regardless of the causes and circumstances of any crisis, the IAEA will act quickly to coordinate an effective international response.”
We need to be prepared for the possibility that nuclear and radiological emergencies resulting from a safety or security event could be accompanied by natural disasters, pandemics or other crises.
