Press release
Paris, 4 November 1996

NEA to organise a series of international nuclear emergency exercises

On 7 November 1996, the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD/NEA) is to initiate a series of international nuclear emergency exercises (INEX-2) involving specific Member country nuclear facilities. The first of these exercises is to be conducted in conjunction with a regional exercise (FORTUNA) in Switzerland and south-western Germany. The sponsorship of such exercises by the OECD/NEA started in 1993 with INEX-1.

The objectives of this first exercise in the INEX-2 series are:

  • to test the communications systems to be used in a real emergency for notification and exchange of information;
  • to test decision-making on countermeasures in the early phase of an accident based on incomplete or uncertain information;
  • to test the communication of information to the public in nuclear emergency situations.

The scenario for this exercise will be based on a simulated accident at the Swiss nuclear power plant Leibstadt situated on the Rhine, close to the German border. Twenty-eight countries from Eastern and Western Europe, Asia and North America will participate, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the European Commission (EC) will activate their accident notification systems.

This exercise will be followed by three similar exercises in the INEX-2 series in 1997 and 1998, to be organised in conjunction with regional exercises in Finland, Canada and Hungary.

Related links

Radiological protection

International Nuclear Emergency Exercises (INEX)


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