Key factsParticipating countries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Denmark, EL Salvador, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea, Kuwait, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mauritius, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Syrian Arab Republic, Tunisia, Türkiye, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. Participating international organisations: EC, IAEA, NEA, WHO, WMO The INEX 2000 exercise was part of the first joint International Exercise (JINEX1). Key topics:
Key outcomes:
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The experiences and lessons learnt during the four regional INEX-2 exercises led to major improvements in national and international nuclear emergency response management. As a follow-up to the INEX-2 regional exercises, the Expert Group on Nuclear Emergency Matters established three working groups at the beginning of 1998:
In order to synthesise the findings of these three groups, a workshop on emergency management strategy was held in Paris from 2-3 December 1998. The final result of their work is the NEA Report on Monitoring and Data Management Strategies for Nuclear Emergencies, which was meant to modernise and streamline emergency notification and information activities.
Broadly, the objective of the developed strategy was to facilitate the decision making process by delivering the available/necessary information in the most appropriate format to the decision maker, whilst at the same time minimising the resources necessary to send, receive and analyse data. The evolved communication and information strategies suggested the use of web technology to disseminate information and transfer data in case of a nuclear or a radiological emergency. These concepts distinguished between alert and notification, which had to be a wake-up instrument pushed to responding organisations along with any additional data and support information which was available and could be pulled from other sources if needed.
Moreover, it became clear that several international organisations had well-defined obligations in case of a nuclear emergency, and that the international nuclear emergency exercise culture should be structured, co-ordinated and institutionalised. The INEX-2 series helped to identify a workable procedure for regularly testing the notification and communication processes at the very early stages of a nuclear or radiological emergency. In order to co-ordinate and harmonise the efforts of various international organisations to initiate and perform INEX exercises, the former Inter-Agency Committee on Response to Nuclear Accidents (IACRNA), which is now the Inter-Agency committee on Nuclear and Radiological Emergencies (IACRNE), developed a formal mechanism for this purpose. This formal mechanism, as laid down in a joint plan, was cosponsored by its member organisations EC, FAO, IAEA, ICAO, NEA, PAHO, UN-OCHA, UNOOSA, WHO and WMO. In order to co-ordinate and harmonise the efforts of various international organisations to initiate and perform international nuclear emergency exercises, the IACRNA developed a formal mechanism for this purpose.
Hence, the INEX 2000 exercise was also used for the first Joint International Nuclear Emergency Exercise (JINEX-1) co-ordinated through the IACRNA, testing the joint plan. Each international organisation involved, developed its own objectives and offered these objectives to its constituency. Each of the international organisations involved performed its own evaluation of the exercise with regard to its specific objectives. The IAEA published their evaluation in a report called International Nuclear Emergency Exercise (JINEX-1), IAEA Evaluation Report (IAEA, 2002). The evaluation from the EC and the WMO are available as internal reports only. The INEX 2000 report summarises the evaluation of JINEX-1 with regard to the objectives developed by the NEA, i.e. INEX 2000. In the final INEX 2000 evaluation report, the results of the November 2001 Workshop on the Indemnification of Damage in the Event of a Nuclear Accident, were also included.
In order to test the evolved communication and information technologies, the NEA organised the INEX 2000 exercise hosted in France at the Gravelines nuclear power plant, 22-23 May 2001. This international nuclear emergency exercise was similar to the four INEX-2 exercises as a command-post real-time notification and communication exercise, dealing with the first hours of a nuclear emergency. In addition to the new communication aspects, the exercise included for the first time an additional objective testing compensation and third party liability issues after a nuclear accident. These aspects were developed in detail in a separate workshop on Indemnification of Damage in the Event of a Nuclear Accident, on 26-28 November 2001. INEX 2000 is therefore seen as a bridging exercise between the INEX-2 series and the next generation of international nuclear emergency exercises at the Nuclear Energy Agency, focusing on decision making mechanisms in later phases of a nuclear emergency.
INEX 2000 indicated the following need for action, nationally and internationally:
Need for actions on a national level:
Need for action on an international level:
Great efforts had been made to develop and implement modern communication techniques for the exchange of emergency information, nationally and internationally. It was concluded that it was very important that information dissemination via fax would be maintained as a necessary backup system for information exchange using web technology.
An efficient use of web technology internationally would only be achieved when the technology is also part of national emergency management procedures and used on a regular basis. Countries, therefore, have to decide whether or not to employ web technologies for emergency communication and information exchange within the country and implement modified technical and organisational procedures in their emergency plans.
On an international level, having only one official platform for the exchange of emergency information is essential. This platform will act as the primary interface amongst countries and between international organisations and countries. The issue of co-ordinating media information on a national, and especially on an international level remained very important and should be kept on the list of objectives for future nuclear emergency exercises.
Joint Radiation Emergency Management Plan of the International Organizations, EPR-JPLAN, IAEA, Vienna, 2002
International Nuclear Emergency Exercise (JINEX-1), IAEA Evaluation Report, IAEA, Vienna 2002
