TC-OSEM: An integrated set of training courses for off-site emergency management in Europe

Following the lessons learnt from the Chernobyl accident, the whole concept of off-site nuclear accident management has been reviewed in depth at international, European and national levels during the last decade. The primary purpose has been to define an intervention philosophy based on internationally recognised and accepted principles. Several international organisations were at the forefront of these modifications, e. g. the ICRP, the IAEA and the EC. As a result, a sect of European directives and regulations have been adopted for endorsement by the national governments within the European Union. In line with the above, one of the main objectives and achievements of the radiation protection research through the EC's Nuclear Fission Safety Programmes was the development of an operational and comprehensive real-time on-line support system for off-site nuclear emergency management in Europe (RODOS), allowing to realise the visison of a more coherent and timely response to nuclear emergencies in Europe on local, regional, national and international level. Under sponsorship of the EC DG RTD's Fifth Framework project TC-OSEM (Training Courses for Off-site Emergency Management) a set of three integrated training courses has been worked out with the aim to for disseminate in a didactically optimised approach the latest knowledge, principles and insight in off-site accident management to those involved in decision making on interventions. The first training course (TCI) on Off-site Emergency Planning and Response to Nuclear Accidents, developed by the Belgian Nuclear Research Centre (SCK-CEN), gives a highly quality comprehensive overview of the current principles of intervention, planning and organisational aspects of off-site accident management, radiological evaluation and decision aiding techniques in case of nuclear accidents, beneficial to those playing and active role in this domain. The European dimension is stressed (e. g. Community legislation, ECURIE and EURDEP). This course is based on ten years of experience and has recently been revised in depth. A major asset of the course is the full-day emergency response exercise during which a severe nuclear accident is simulated through a PC-network interface. As member of an Evaluation of an Evaluation and Decision Cell the students have to apply the main issues learned. In parallel to the elaboration of TC1 SCK-CEn has elaborated under sponsorhip of the EC DG ENV A European Manual for Off-site Emergency Planning and Response to Nuclear Accidents which covers the materials taught in TC1. The second and third training courses RODOS based decision support for off-site emergency management in the early phase (TC2) and the later phases (TC3) of a nuclear accident' are developed by the Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (FZK). Both courses build on information provided by TC1. The courses aim to educate and train the participants in the usefulness of the information provided by the RODOS system for emergency response on the one hand, and in the judgement of the raidological situation, the effect interventions may have and how this information may influence the decision making process on the other hand. Active training is achieved by performing scenario-based exercises using the RODOS system as a trianing tool. (Author)