epr-method (2003) - IAEA Publications - International Atomic Energy ...

2.2.12. TASK 9 — TEST CAPABILITY
Once a response capability has been developed, drills and exercises should be conducted. The
drills will provide training and the exercises will test and verify the adequacy of the entire
system, including the plans, procedures, facilities, equipment and training. After the exercises
have been conducted, deficiencies should be identified, prioritized and corrected. The drills
and exercises should be conducted in a sequence starting with the smallest organizational
elements (e.g. monitoring teams) and culminate in a national level exercise. The performance
during exercises for threat categories I, II and III should be evaluated against the time
objectives suggested for the response functions in Appendix 10.
2.2.13. TASK 10— ESTABLISH ONGOING QUALITY ASSURANCE (QA) AND
MAINTENANCE
As a final task, all groups should develop the means to maintain, update, and validate the
emergency response programme as described in Section 4.2, including:
1. a review of plans and procedures;
2. a review of training programmes;
3. an exercise programme; and
4. a feedback process for lessons learned during exercises and real emergencies.
Long term staff and budget must be provided to ensure that the capability is maintained.
2.2.14. ULTIMATELY
Ultimately, the State should adopt legislation to clearly allocate responsibilities for
preparedness and response for a radiation emergency. This should ensure that the functions
and responsibilities of operators and response organizations are clearly assigned and
understood by all concerned. In addition, a regulatory body should require that emergency
plans be prepared for the on-site area for any practice or source that could necessitate an
emergency response [2]. For facilities within threat category I, II or III “appropriate
emergency arrangements shall be established from the time that nuclear fuel [or significant
amounts of radioactive or fissile material] is brought to the site, and complete emergency
preparedness as described here shall be ensured before the commencement of operation” (Ref.
[22], para. 2.36). The regulatory body should ensure that these plans are integrated with those
of other response organizations as appropriate before the commencement of operation. The
regulatory body should also ensure that these plans provide a reasonable assurance of
effective response in accordance with this publication in the event of a radiation emergency
[2].
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