Vol. 566 No. 4
251 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the degree to which his Department is in readiness to meet its responsibilities in the context of the national emergency plan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13169/03]
The Government has in place a national emergency plan for nuclear accidents which is regularly updated. My Department has the lead role in implementing the plan through the emergency response co-ordination committee. This committee, which also includes representatives of other Departments and the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland, will respond to a major disaster at a nuclear installation in the UK or elsewhere which would result in a major release of radioactivity.
An information booklet entitled National Planning for Nuclear Emergencies was published by my Department last year. The booklet sets out the principal features of the National Emergency Plan for Nuclear Accidents. An information leaflet summarising the main elements of the booklet was distributed to every household in the country.
A Government task force on emergency planning is also in place to co-ordinate the work of Departments and agencies with key roles in emergency planning. In the event of any accident or incident at a nuclear installation abroad, the critical issue for Ireland is early notification. Two notification systems are used for early warning. Following Chernobyl, countries with nuclear power plants entered into an agreement, called the Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident, under which any country which operates nuclear installations is obliged to inform the International Atomic Energy Agency immediately of an accident, in any of its installations, which could have an effect outside its own boundaries.
The IAEA, through its emergency response unit based at its headquarters in Vienna, will immediately pass on to all its member states, including Ireland, any notification which it receives of a nuclear accident in any part of the world. In addition to this IAEA system, a separate system, known as ECURIE, is operated within the EU. Under this, each EU member state is required to notify other member states of any radiological accident that could have consequences outside its territory. They must also provide details of any protective actions being taken and results of radiological measurements carried out.
