EPR- Public Communications L-03

1. EPR-Public CommunicationsL-03 Types of Radiation Emergencies and Communicating Safety

2. Types of radiation emergencies Nuclear facilities; Radiation sources from medical, industrial and research areas; Illicit trafficking; Malicious acts.

3. Threat categories

4. Nuclear emergencies Nuclear emergencies (threat categories I, II or III) may occur at: • Large irradiation facilities (e.g. industrial irradiators); • Nuclear reactors (research reactors, ship reactors and power reactors); • Storage facilities for large quantities of spent fuel or liquid or gaseous radioactive materials; • Fuel cycle facilities; • Industrial facilities (e.g. facilities for manufacturing radiopharmaceuticals); • Research or medical facilities with large fixed sources (e.g. teletherapysources).

5. Radiological emergencies Radiological emergencies (threat categories IV and V) can occur anywhere and include: • Uncontrolled (abandoned, lost, stolen or found) radiological sources; • Misuse of industrial and medical radiological sources; • Public exposures and contamination from unknown origins; • Serious overexposures; • Malicious threats or acts; • Transport emergencies;

6. Unplanned Releases • Unplanned releases as a result of an accident: • Organizations using ionizing radiation should: • Have response plans for emergencies that could lead to radiation releases; • Carry out exercises involving staff and staff of other agencies to test responses; • Produce and disseminate messages to the public that are primarily factual and address public demand for authoritative and reliable facts and figures.

7. Lost/ “orphan” radioactive sources Possibility of coming into contact with radiations sources without realizing it due to lost or “orphan” radioactive sources; Possibility of large individual exposures and some contamination.

8. Releases from deliberate acts • Releases as a result of deliberate acts by individuals or groups: • Depends on motives, capabilities and opportunities; • Outcomes not necessarily different from unplanned or unintentional releases but the special characteristics of such emergencies need to be carefully considered; • Public communications protocols should be agreed with appropriate authorities to ensure protection of public health without compromise to investigation; • Carefully brief spokesperson(s).

9. International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale - INES

10. Classification INES classifies nuclear and radiological accidents and incidents by considering three areas of impact: • People and the Environment; • Radiological Barriers and Control; • Defence-in-Depth

11. Examples

12. Communicating safety Very dangerous source from radiography camera (should never be picked up) Typical radiography camera Communicating safety in emergencies involving small dangerous radioactive sources.

13. Communicating safety • To protect yourself, if you think an object is a radioactive source: • Do not touch or pick it up; • Keep away from it – 30 meters; • Keep other people away from it (cordon it); • If you have touched it, been near it or been near someone who may have touched it, keep your hands away from your mouth and wash your hands before you eat, drink or smoke; • Immediately notify local police or emergency services.

14. Communicating safety • Communicating safety in a large scale emergency: • Quickly communicate degree of safety to public near emergency site, including any protective actions; • Use prepared statement templates; • Anticipate and address media and public inquiries; • Use IAEA set of default operation intervention levels (OILs) and plain language templates in case of release of radioactive material.

15. Conclusion PIOs should be aware of the different and potential emergencies; Use of INES as a non-emergency public communications tool; Importance of communicating safety in plain language for small and large scale emergencies.