Vol. 482 No. 6
123 Mr. Yates asked the Minister for Public Enterprise if she has satisfied herself that the emergency plan in the event of a nuclear accident is adequate; if she will give details of this plan; and the monitoring or review, if any, which has taken place in this regard recently in her Department. [18571/97]
The main element of the national emergency plan for nuclear accidents are published in a booklet available from my Department. The plan is designed to provide a rapid and effective response to accidents involving the release or potential release of radioactive substances into the environment which could give rise to radiation exposure. The national emergency plan outlines the measures in place to assess and mitigate the effects of nuclear accidents which occur in the UK or elsewhere and which might pose a radiological hazard to Ireland. As Minister responsible for nuclear safety matters, I am responsible for the emergency plan and for ensuring the co-ordination of the respective responses of the various Government Departments and statutory organisations, including the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII).
Emergency preparedness is underpinned by a constant monitoring programme carried out by the RPII. This programme includes measurements of radioactivity levels in air, on the ground, in live sheep, foodstuffs and in a range of samples from the seas around Ireland. The RPII's monitoring programme enables a healthy state of readiness to be maintained so that a rapid and effective response can be provided in the event of a nuclear emergency. The vital co-operative emergency arrangements with our EU partners are tested every six to eight weeks. At least one of these every year includes the transfer of simulated radiological data between EU member states. Ireland participates in all of these tests and the experiences gained to date have led to improvements in the international arrangements.
In November 1996 and in April this year, the State's relevant Government Departments and statutory bodies took part in the international desktop nuclear emergency exercise, INEX 2, organised by the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA) of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. A further NEA exercise is planned for next year. Over 30 countries, the European Commission and the International Atomic Energy Agency have participated in INEX 2 to date. In Ireland's case, the INEX 2 exercise proved to be helpful in reviewing the operation of our emergency plan.
Following the INEX emergency exercises, a review of existing arrangements is currently being undertaken by my Department and the RPII and some procedural and practical improvements have been suggested. This review, allied to the RPII's ongoing monitoring programmes, is aimed at ensuring that our emergency plan is fully equipped to provide an effective and speedy response to any nuclear accident or emergency.
