Working Party on Nuclear Emergency Matters (WPNEM)

The NEA has a long tradition of expertise in the area of nuclear emergency policy, planning, preparedness and management. Through its technical programmes, the NEA offers its member countries unbiased assistance in the nuclear preparedness arena, with a view towards facilitating improvements in nuclear emergency preparedness strategies and nuclear emergency response at the international level. The 1986 Chernobyl accident demonstrated that nuclear accidents may have international consequences, highlighting the need for such programmes and leading to improvements in the areas of international communication, information exchange and the harmonisation of response actions between various countries.

The mission of the CRPPH Working Party on Nuclear Emergency Matters (WPNEM) is to improve nuclear emergency management systems (planning, preparedness, response, recovery) within member states and to share its knowledge and experience widely. Within this framework, the WPNEM develops its programme of work based on identifying and analysing emergency management systems gaps or vulnerabilities. The programme of work is developed in co-ordination with member states and other international organisations.

Participants are emergency management experts from NEA member countries with recognised knowledge and skills in the nuclear field. The working party employs a flexible approach to addressing issues across the entire spectrum of nuclear and radiological emergency and recovery management. Participants share information, data, knowledge and experiences to test emergency managements systems and theories, identify gaps and provide recommended strategies to improve nuclear emergency management worldwide.

From the beginning, the NEA's focus of work as carried out by the Working Party on Nuclear Emergency Matters has been on improving the effectiveness of international nuclear emergency preparedness and management. Part of its work programme focuses on exploring and developing new concepts and future procedures to enhance national and international preparedness and response management. A central aspect of these efforts have centred on preparing and conducting the International Nuclear Emergency Exercise (INEX) series.

Following the latest INEX 3 exercise, the WPNEM will undertake a series of new initiatives to address key areas for improving consequence management. These include:

• forming a new expert group to investigate agriculture, food and recovery management;
• convening an ad hoc scoping group to address liability issues in consequence management (in collaboration with the NEA Nuclear Law Committee);
• establishing a programme committee to develop a workshop on communications and stakeholder involvement in consequence and recovery management; and
• setting up a review group to examine "soft" countermeasures.

Related publications and links

• INEX 3 Consequence Management Exercise
• INEX 2000
• INEX 2
• INEX 1
• Co-operation with other international organisations
• Organisational structure within the NEA

Strategy for Developing and Conducting Nuclear Emergency Exercises
(pdf format, 305 kb)

Experience from the Third International Nuclear Emergency Exercise (INEX 3) on Consequence Management
(pdf format, 208 kb)

INEX 2000 Exercise Evaluation Report
(pdf format, 587 kb)

E-mail contact: Brian Ahier (brian.ahier@oecd.org)

Last updated: 28 July 2008