The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Hungary conducted a 36-hour, international exercise this week to test the global emergency response to a nuclear power plant accident, such as Chernobyl and Three Mile Island.
The exercise involved 82 IAEA Member States and 11 international organizations, highlighting where the states were engaging in successful responses and where improvement was needed.
During the program, the participating organizations worked together to implement emergency plans and procedures, engage bilateral agreements, and request international arrangements.
Exercises of this scale are conducted every three to five years to test regulations put in place by the Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident and the Convention on Assistance of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency.
A key IAEA objective of the exercise operations was the evaluation of communication between its Incident and Emergency System and the Accident State, other Member States, the media, and the public. Other objectives included arrangements for consequence assessment and prognosis of emergency development as well as the provision of international assistance.
Developed by Hungary’s Paks Nuclear Power Plant and the Hungarian Atomic Energy Authority, the international exercise was prepared by the Inter-Agency Committee on Radiological and Nuclear Emergencies.