Abstract
Aim: The aim of this paper is to present the results of an experiment which was conducted as a part of the “End-user driven DEmo for cbrNe” (EDEN) project on the 17th and 18th of May 2016 in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone, and more precisely in Pripyat.
Introduction: One of the main requirements for highly effective emergency exercise is a well prepared and reliable scenario which is executed in conditions that closely resemble reality. This requirement brings even more value if the exercise is tailored to build response capacity for CBRNE hazards. First responders’ skills and work experience in contaminated areas are desirable response capacity of emergency units. However, because CBRNE emergencies are low-probability, high-impact events, they are very rarely happening. Therefore, building this response capacity definitely requires exercising, at least in a simulated environment. Simulating CBRNE hazards, and especially biological and radiological ones, is very challenging, expensive, time-consuming, strictly regulated and in many cases, like for nuclear, almost impossible. However, there is one more option, apart from simulating the contamination. It is exercising in contaminated areas like e.g. in the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. To organise this type of exercise requires from the exercise planners and organizers a deep understanding of the hazard as such. Since the hazard constitutes a realistic risk of negative impact on the exercise participants’ health, such events have to be planned and prepared in detail, and with an appropriate consideration given to the risk level in order to minimize it. An increased level of first responders’ readiness built upon such exercises is definitely an operational value. However, it is questioned how high could be the cost of this benefit on the participants health, if any? What are the key aspects to be considered while organising an emergency exercise in a radioactively contaminated training site in order to minimize health and other risks? What type of training and operational benefits could be identified when working in such an environment?
Methodology: The paper analyses the CBRNE exercise executed in Pripyat presenting a lesson learnt which could easily be utilised by the future planners and organisers of such type of exercises.
Conclusions: The experiment proved that providing a safety plan for such an exercise and its proper implementation allows the exercise to be executed in a manner which ensures that the safety levels regulated by law are not exceeded. Exercising in contaminated zones provides an excellent opportunity for the improvement of individual skills and coping capacity of the entire CBRNE system, including standard operating procedures. It is important to note that during well organized and controlled exercises, the risk for health and life of the first responders due to radioactive contamination and exposure is negligible.
Keywords: ionising radiation, effective dose, CBRNE, civil protection exercises
Type of article: case study