Management of emergencies, safety and security events

1. Management of emergencies, safety and security events Technical Meeting on Radiation Safety in Industrial Radiography, 23 to 27 June 2014, in Vienna Abdulla Al Yammahi

2. Content • The legislative framework • A national organization structure • Past UAE event

3. The Legislative Framework • The Federal Law by Decree No. 6 of 2009 on Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy established the Federal Authority for Nuclear Regulation (FANR) and its roles and responsibilities in radiological and nuclear emergency: • 1.Cooperate with relevant government entities in Emergency planning and Emergency Preparedness in nuclear and radiological emergency. • (Federal Law by Decree No.6 of 2009, Article (50): • The preparation, Maintenance and co-ordination of the off-site emergency Plan shall be organized by the competent authorities and Licensees in order to provide civil protection and protection of the public against disasters, accident and catastrophes. • (Federal Law by Decree No.6 of 2009, Article (49): • 1.The competent authorities and Licensees shall establish measures for Emergency Preparedness and Emergency Response. • 2.Emergency Planning measures shall be established. a. For protection of the population (off-site Emergency Plan), which regulates the Emergency Zones and determines the actions to be taken by the competent authorities to protect the population, property and environment in case of an Accident; b. For each Nuclear Facility and the facility that contains sources of nuclear radiations (on-site Emergency Plan), which determines the actions to be taken by the licensee for accident mitigation and remediation of consequences in co-ordination with off-site Emergency Plan.)

4. The Legislative Framework • 2. Assess the emergency and make recommendation to ensure that nuclear and radiological consequences are minimized, • (Federal Law by Decree No.6 of 2009, Article.7: • The Authority shall co-operate with the relevant government entities, advise them, and provide information on matters related to Nuclear Security, Radiation Protection and Security concerning in Emergency planning and Emergency Preparedness. • 3. Communicate appropriateness of protective actions to the licensee, response organizations, other governmental organizations, and the public,* • 4. Advise and support first responders from authorities in areas within the competence of FANR, * • 5. Arrange for expertise and services in radiation protection to be provided promptly to first responders , * • 6. Advise on national radiological emergency planning derived from international guidance on emergency categories and responsibilities for different responders . * • (*) Federal Plan for Disasters

5. Basic Safety Standards for Facilities and Activities involving Ionizing Radiation other than in Nuclear Facilities (FANR-REG-24) Article (16) FANR-REG-24 • The Licensee shall prepare and maintain an Emergency Plan for protection of people, commensurate with the nature and magnitude of the risk involved. The Emergency Plan shall be subject to the approval of the Authority. 2. The Licensee shall be responsible for the implementation of the Emergency Plans and shall be prepared to take any necessary action for effective response. 3. To prevent the occurrence of situations that could lead to a loss of control over a Radiation Source or the escalation of such situations, the Licensee shall: a. develop, maintain and implement procedures to provide the means for preventing loss of control and regaining control over the Radiation Source as necessary; b. make available equipment, instrumentation and diagnostic aids that may be needed; and c. train personnel and periodically retrain them in the procedures to be followed. • (review and assessment process)

6. Regulation for Security of Radioactive Sources (FANR-REG-23) • A Licensee authorised to conduct Regulated Activities involving any Category 1 Source shall comply with the procedural security requirements and shall : • “Annually engage in practice activities with the police force, emergency management agencies and other concerned authorities in the Emirate in which the Licensee is located in order to coordinate response to potential Security Breaches and report to the Authority on the outcomes”

7. Regulatory Guide For Radiation Safety in Industrial Radiography (FANR-RG-019) • On FANR-RG-019: FANR guides the licensee on how he should develop his Emergency Preparedness arrangements in several steps, as follows: • a) Identify potential incidents and their associated risks; • b) develop an Emergency Plan and procedures for dealing with these incidents; • c) obtain all needed Emergency equipment; • d) train their staff to implement the Emergency Plan and procedures, including how to use the Emergency equipment; • e) hold exercises twice a year to test and evaluate the Emergency Plan; and • f) review and update their Emergency Plan as needed.

8. The Legislative Framework • The Federal Law by Decree No. 2 of 2011 established the National Emergency, Crises and Disasters Management Authority (NCEMA). “National Coordinating Authoroty” • NCEMA roles and responsibilities; • Supervising the development of national response capabilities and coordinating inter-agency programmes at the local and state level • Participating in preparing the emergency plans and following up their implementation in collaboration with state authorities • Participating in preparing, coordinating, and implementing exercises and follow-up the implementation of them • Managing emergencies, crises and disasters through coordinating and collaborating with state concerned agencies • Coordinating the roles of state concerned agencies during emergencies, crises and disasters

9. In place Arrangements • FANR Regulations and Licence conditions required licensee of regulated material to prepare emergency plan and response measures and to report any incident and accident on a specified time frame. • FANR designated as of the competent authority for the UAE for both Conventions on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident and on Assistance in the case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergencies • FANR is the National Warning Point for the IAEA and contact point for Incident and Trafficking Database (ITDB) • FANR is the technical authority for NCEMA based on the Memorandum of Understanding between NCEMA and FANR signed on 2012

10. The UAE National Emergency Organization • Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Health already established their organizations from the local level to the federal level • At local level, licensees of regulated material (radioactive materials and radiation sources) developed their emergency plans

11. FANR internal management incase of emergency • Event starts • FANR contacted • Event is assessed and • FANR Emergency • Response Organization • is mobilized FANR ERP-01, Emergency Contact ERP-02, Emergency Response ERP-03, Emergency Communications Licensee Coordinating Entities Competent Authorities Event under control

12. FANR Emergency Response – Emergency Response Organization (ERO) Structure On-Shift Emergency Manager Emergency Teams AdvisoryRadiological Radiological Liaisons Communications Measurements Assessment

13. The Past Event - Chronology • Three years ago, a company licensed by FANR, lost a projector used for industrial radiography • Iridium source with an activity of 2.85 TBq (Category 2 of IAEA) • Chronology of events • On the 25th October 2011, the company conducted non-destructive testing radiography at Mussafah industrial area • At night, the device was loaded on a vehicle and shipped to storage area of the company • On the morning of the 26 October 2011, arriving at the storage area in Mussafah, the projector was not anymore on the vehicle. After unsuccessful search, the company reported the loss to the nearest police station • On the 6 of November 2011, the device has been discovered in the town of Al Rahba, located 30 km from Abu Dhabi/Mussafah, by a person how said that his friend found it in the road on Mussafah and he take it with him.

14. The Past Event – Response actions • FANR informed 5 hours after the notification of the loss through its emergency number • One hour after the alert, a combined FANR/Police team begun to search. In parallel, NCEMA and Health Authority of Abu Dhabi (HAAD) alerted. • The public and media informed later by a press release posted on FANR’s web-site • Next days, search and survey with radiation equipment conducted by FANR and other agencies such as Armed Forces • On the 6/11/2011, police been informed of the discovery of the device and FANR confirmed that the device was not damaged • FANR notified the IAEA, as the point of contact for UAE of ITDB, of both loss and recovery of the radioactive source

15. The Past Event Lessons learnt • Cooperation among the Ministry of Interior, especially Abu Dhabi Police, Health Authority of Abu Dhabi, NCEMA, the Armed Forces, FANR and the company • Capacity for local and federal authorities to closely work together • March, 2012 Exercise organized by Sharjah’s police to confirm the response organization • March, 2013 Exercise organized by Fujairah police to test the coordination with the concerned entities involved in radiological events • But some vulnerabilities on the part of our licensees regarding to the safety and security of the radioactive sources • Notice of Violation sent by FANR and corrective actions implemented by the company

16. Conclusion • UAE Legislative framework for managing radiological events established; organization and capacity/means in process to be finalized in non-nuclear domain • Depending on its impact, implementation of organization at the local level or activation of the national emergency organization • The past event of loss and recovery of a radioactive source • helpful to implement the already defined organization at a local level and to test its effectiveness • highlighted the importance of coordination between different governmental agencies • Future plans to conduct more drills and table-top exercises for different scales and types of radiological emergencies