The IAEA ConvEx-3 international emergency exercise conducted on 21-22 June 2017 for 36 hours has been completed.
The SNRIU and State Emergency Service of Ukraine together with Energoatom Company and with advisory support from experts of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, State Border Guard Service, Ministry for Regional Development, Construction and Housing, Computational Analysis Center of Armed Forces of Ukraine, and other ministries and departments ensured implementation of Ukraine’s obligations under IAEA international conventions and testing of prompt response to nuclear incidents at the national level.
This international exercise provided an excellent opportunity to verify the following in real-time conditions:
capabilities of automated radiation monitoring systems of nuclear power plants, Chornobyl exclusion zone, and
effectiveness of procedures for notification and exchange of information at interagency, state and international levels;
prompt processing of incoming information on the development of the event and its use for evaluation, prognosis and preparation of agreed proposals for making decisions on response and protection;
atmospheric transfer models developed using the RODOS decision support system at the SNRIU Information and
Ukraine was an active player among 79 participating states and 11 international organizations, since during the first hours of the exercise, the nature of the events indicated that simulated accident zone spread not only to the territory of Hungary but also to the risk zone of Austria, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Slovenia , Slovak Republic, Ukraine, and other European states.
The exercise scenario simulated a major accident simultaneously at two units of the Hungarian Paks Nuclear Power Plant with a significant release of radioactive materials into the atmosphere. The simulated accident was immediately classified as level 6 on the INES scale and required the participants, besides prompt information exchange, to address decisions on protective and other response actions including possible medical response, public communication, import/export of good and border crossing.
In order to make decisions on protective and other actions in the case of a transboundary nuclear accident, it is important to have information on the decisions/actions taken by the neighboring states. For this purpose, the exercise participants addressed a range of measures on protection, control, and monitoring, as well as technical possibilities of their application in different states.
All exercise participants are convinced that better cooperation is needed during emergencies at the national and international levels for prompt exchange of information, assessment and prognosis of the situation, provision of international assistance, and coordination of public information.
In the coming time, the IAEA will compile the feedbacks from participating member states and international organizations into a report that will identify good practices and areas for further improvement in order to strengthen national and international preparedness for response to nuclear and radiological emergencies.
Although the lessons learnt from the exercise are based on the response to a simulated nuclear power plant accident, they are also applicable to other types of nuclear and radiological emergencies in all countries.
For further information, please contact:
Sector of Information-Analytical Support and Public Relations – phone (044) 277-12-02
Emergency Preparedness and Radiation Protection Division of Nuclear Installation Safety Directorate – phone (044) 277-12-13