The purpose of the Off-site Nuclear Emergency Plans is to prevent or at least reduce as far as possible the adverse effects of ionising radiation on the public and the environment. They are based on the standards and criteria set by the Basic Nuclear Emergency Plan and establish responsibilities for public entities and organisations in relation to civil protection, public safety, health, radiation protection and others, with the collaboration of the licensees of the facilities. The nuclear power plants’ off-site emergency plans are the following:

First of all, the master plans are those for the surroundings of each nuclear power plant:

• PENBU: Off-site nuclear emergency plan for the Santa María de Garoña (Burgos) nuclear power plant.

• PENGUA: Off-site nuclear emergency plan for the José Cabrera and Trillo (Guadalajara) nuclear power plants.

• PENCA: Off-site nuclear emergency plan for the Almaraz (Cáceres) nuclear power plant.

• PENTA: Off-site nuclear emergency plan for the Ascó and Vandellós (Tarragona) nuclear power plants.

• PENVA: Off-site nuclear emergency plan for the Cofrentes (Valencia) nuclear power plant.

Secondly, there is a central support organisation for the organisations of the above plans, governed by the following plan:

• PENCRA: Central Level Response and Support Emergency Plan.

The off-site emergency plans define four emergency situations which depend on the seriousness of the accident and its radiological consequences for the population. These off-site emergency situations match, in an indicative way, the on-site accident categories as follows: