Radiation Protection
Emergency Preparedness
The Radiation Protection
unit (TREN H.4) is responsible for radiological emergency preparedness
arrangements within the European Commission. While the primary responsibility of
protecting the general public in the event of a nuclear or radiological
emergency lies with the Member State authorities, the Commission participates in
this work by maintaining the following international systems:
ECURIE
(European Community Urgent Radiological Information
Exchange)
ECURIE is a 24h radiological emergency
notification and information exchange system. The system notifies the
competent authorities of the participating States (currently EU Member
States, Croatia and Switzerland) and the European Commission in case of a
major nuclear accident or radiological emergency. During an emergency the
system provides an information exchange platform for the participating
States in order to inform about the current and foreseeable status of the
accident, meteorological conditions, national countermeasures taken, etc.
The legal basis for participation in ECURIE by the EU Member States is the
EU Council Decision 87/600/Euratom. The Radiation Protection unit is
responsible for ECURIE management and development. The unit maintains a 24h
preparedness service in order to activate the system in the event of a
nuclear or radiological emergency.
More information on the ECURIE system is
available at
http://rem.jrc.ec.europa.eu/40.html
.
EURDEP
(EUropean Radiological Data Exchange Platform)
EURDEP is both a standard data format and a network for the exchange of
environmental radiation monitoring data between European countries in real-time.
Participation of the EU Member States is based on the Recommendation
2000/473/EURATOM. Participation of the various non-EU countries is on a
voluntary basis. Those countries that send their national radiological
monitoring data have access to the data of all the other participating
countries. The system is continuously operating with a daily data exchange
routine and there is a general consensus that participating in the system
automatically means that the data transmissions will continue during an
emergency in an elevated frequency.
More information on the EURDEP system is
available at
http://rem.jrc.ec.europa.eu/175.html
.
ENSEMBLE
In case of a major
radiological or nuclear accident affecting Europe, national long-range
radioactivity dispersion forecasts will inevitably differ because of
differences in national models, differences in weather prediction methods and
differences in national emergency management strategies. Differences in
national long-range dispersion forecasts may cause problems at the European
level, as national emergency management strategies based solely on national
forecasts may not cohere with those in neighbouring countries. ENSEMBLE
addresses the issue of harmonisation and coherence of emergency management and
decision-making in relation to long-range atmospheric dispersion modelling by
providing a website tool to view and compare national dispersion forecasts.
More information on the ENSEMBLE system is
available at
http://rem.jrc.ec.europa.eu./177.html .
The REM group of the DG
Joint Research Centre Institute for Environment and Sustainability (http://rem.jrc.ec.europa.eu)
provides technical support and development for the ECURIE, EURDEP and ENSEMBLE
systems.
Other emergency preparedness activities in the Radiation Protection unit include
training of national authorities, assistance to research activity co-ordination,
regular preparedness exercises and co-operation with other international
organisations and other Commission emergency services. Additionally the unit
provides the INES (the International Nuclear Event Scale) liaison officer for
the Commission and organises regular meetings of Member States radiological
emergency preparedness authorities.
Contact person:
Vesa Tanner
e-mail:
Vesa.Tanner@ec.europa.eu
European Commission
Directorate General Energy and Transport - Unit H.4 Radiation Protection
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