OECD Nuclear Energy Agency / L'Agence pour l'énergie nucléaire

Working Party on Nuclear Emergency Matters (WPNEM)

International Nuclear Emergency Exercises (INEX)

INEX 3

The latest series of international nuclear emergency exercises, INEX 3, took place in 2005-2006. Earlier INEX series focused primarily on the pre-release, release and short-term post-release phase of a nuclear emergency. The INEX 3 series was established to help NEA member countries better manage their response in the latter phases of a nuclear emergency. INEX 3 participants addressed the decision-making processes employed once serious radiation contamination has taken place. This was achieved by examining the related consequence management issues through a set of table-top exercises based on a generic "footprint" radiation contamination pattern. Fifteen countries used this footprint to examine how they might, in the wake of such contamination, implement agricultural countermeasures and food restrictions, adopt "soft" countermeasures (such as travel, trade and tourism controls), communicate with the public and move towards recovery.

To evaluate the results of this exercise series, a workshop on the INEX 3 consequence management exercises was held in Paris, France on 30 May-1 June 2006. The workshop was organised by the NEA working party on nuclear emergency management (WPNEM) with the support of the US Department of Energy. About 100 participants from 22 countries and two international organisations shared their national experiences of the exercise, collectively analysed their approaches to the exercise, discussed the implications of any differences on decision makers, and identified issues needing additional examination at the international level. The WPNEM is now addressing these identified needs in consequence management. The NEA has published a synthesis report of the exercise series, workshop and follow-up activities.

INEX 2000

In the tradition of the NEA-initiated INEX exercises, an extensive international nuclear emergency exercise, INEX 2000/JINEX 1, was carried out on 22-23 May 2001, based on a French national exercise at the Gravelines nuclear power plant in the north of France, near the Belgian border. The Gravelines site contains six pressurised water reactors, each providing 910 MWe of electrical power. The exercise involved a simulated incident in the fictitious Gravelines Unit 11 including a release of radioactivity to the environment.

Based on actual weather conditions at the time of the exercise, the French authorities would have evacuated 8000 people and recommended the intake of stable iodine to protect the public living in the vicinity of the power plant. The simulated accident was rated four on the international nuclear event scale (INES). The exercise allowed participants to test existing national and international procedures and arrangements for responding to a nuclear emergency, co-ordinate the release of information, and assess the effectiveness of advisory and decision-making mechanisms. In addition, web-based information exchange mechanisms were tested following the NEA initiative to promote the implementation and testing of modern monitoring and data management strategies for nuclear emergencies. The need for more modern monitoring strategies was identified in the report Monitoring and Data Management Strategies for Nuclear Emergencies. A total of 54 countries and five international organisations participated in the exercise.

INEX 2000 for the first time addressed questions of civil liability following a nuclear emergency. An International third party liability workshop addressed these issues using the scenario from the scientific/technical exercise. The workshop took place on 26-28 November 2001 in Paris and aimed to test the mechanisms by which potential victims of this simulated accident, both in France and in the affected neighbouring countries, would be compensated. One of the principal objectives was to examine the manner in which the Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy and the Brussels Supplementary Convention would be applied.

The INEX 2000 exercise objectives, from the NEA perspective, were to test the features of Monitoring and Data Management Strategies for Nuclear Emergencies, including such areas as:

evaluating the effectiveness of the developed data matrix;
examining t he effectiveness of proposed communication strategies employing new technologies;
testing the co-ordination of information provided to the media between the various participants;
testing the mechanisms for the implementation of the Convention on Third-Party Liability; and
identifying how participants incorporated the lessons of INEX 2.

The exercise led to short-term follow-up activities. These included evaluating the practical implications of further optimisation of the communication strategy developed.

Working Party on Nuclear Emergency Matters (WPNEM)

International Nuclear Emergency Exercises (INEX)

INEX 3

INEX 2000

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