National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Radiological Assistance Program (RAP) teams from across the country recently underwent classroom and field training as part of the Radiological Assistance Program Training for Emergency Response (RAPTER) in Las Vegas.
“RAP team members are often the federal government’s first presence with state and local authorities in response to a radiological emergency,” Jay Tilden, NNSA’s associate administrator and deputy under secretary for counterterrorism and counterproliferation, said. “RAPTER ensures the readiness and competence of our responding experts as they deploy into uncertain or unknown emergency environments.”
RAP teams consist of employees who regularly work with radioactive material at NNSA and Department of Energy (DOE) facilities.
The teams provide an on-call response capability for incidents involving radioactive material and conduct detection, identification, and analysis of radiological or nuclear materials.
They advise federal, state, and local public health and safety officials during the initial phases of the response effort and provide decision-makers with the data needed to understand and minimize hazards after a radiological or nuclear incident occurs.