CSN Activation of the CSN’s Emergency Response Organization

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Activation of the CSN’s Emergency Response Organization

Organización de respuesta ante emergencias del CSN

The Spanish Nuclear Safety Council (CSN) Emergency Response Organisation (ERO) is the operational structure with the appropriate human teams, technical means and operational procedures for performing its functions in nuclear and radiological emergencies effectively and efficiently. This structure complements its normal working organisation and the regular technical and logistics units participate in it. The action of the CSN’s ERO is governed by the CSN Emergency Action Plan (EAP).

Its emergency functions include those of preparing a technical analysis of the situation based on the information received or through intervention teams in the area and continuously monitoring the development of the accident. Using those analyses and depending on the characteristics of the emergency, the ERO determines the potential consequences of the accident and the emergency level that must be activated.

Based on its analysis, the ERO informs the authorities coordinating the response plans regarding the development of the accident and its potential consequences and prepares recommendations on protection measures to be put into practice to guarantee the effective protection and safety of the public.

The ERO also informs the public on the risks of the situation and complies with the international commitments on early notification and mutual assistance among member countries.

Physically, the ERO operates from the 400 m² CSN Emergency Room (Salem) from where the ERO’s operations and its interactions with the rest of the authorities and organisations participating in the emergency response are coordinated:

• The nuclear power plants, as responsible for the facility itself.

• The government territorial delegations and sub-delegations.

• The Autonomous Communities.

• The Directorate General for Civil Protection and Emergencies (DGCPE).

• The Department of Homeland Security.

The Salem also has telecommunications systems that connect it reliably and securely with the facilities’ emergency centres and with the external authorities, systems for analysing and assessing the accident and its consequences, decision support systems for radiological protection, real time data reception systems from the automatic radiation and weather monitoring stations and tools for displaying the results.

Regularly, the CSN emergency response organisation (ERO) is in permanent alert mode with the Salem active 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. In this mode, the main function of the ERO is to maintain the Salem’s operability at all times and to activate the necessary resources in an emergency. There is also an on-call team that can enter into operation in less than one hour to provide a suitable response in the first moments of an emergency situation until the expanded emergency response organisation is formed, if necessary.

The CSN’s own emergency response capabilities are complemented with support from specialised external public and private organisations that have additional means and resources to carry out the activities needed to prepare, maintain the capabilities and intervene in the event of an accident.