1. Each Contracting Party shall ensure that before and during operation of a spent fuel or radioactive waste management facility there are appropriate on-site and, if necessary, off-site emergency plans. Such emergency plans should be tested at an appropriate frequency.
2. Each Contracting Party shall take the appropriate steps for the preparation and testing of emergency plans for its territory insofar as it is likely to be affected in the event of a radiological emergency at a spent fuel or radioactive waste management facility in the vicinity of its territory.
The emergency plans for all nuclear power plants and Studsvik include the installations for spent fuel and radioactive waste management at these facilities. The Clab and SFR facilities are included in the emergency plans for the nuclear power plants OKG and Forsmark respectively. The fuel fabrication facility Westinghouse Electric Sweden AB also has an emergency plan.
F.5.1 Regulatory requirements
In the Government bill 1980/81:90, issued after the Three Mile Island accident, the emergency prepa- redness issues received considerable attention. It was proposed by the Government, and decided by Par- liament, that the emergency planning must consider all types of accidents, from those with very small environmental consequences to the most serious accidents. Further, systematic training of decision- makers must be undertaken as well as the organization of personnel on duty and a system for verified telecommunication between the responsible organizations. Finally it was required that technical support centres to the control rooms of the nuclear power plants should be established.
SSI’s role have been to maintain and further develop the national radiation protection preparedness. The preparedness should be assessed in national and international exercises, and shall be co-ordina- ted in accordance with international treaties. Moreover, SSI have co-ordinated the national resources for radiation measurements, and have maintained responsibility for the operation of air filter stations. All these obligations are stated in the Civil Protection Act (2003:778), the Civil Protection Ordinance (2003:779) and in the Ordinance with instructions for SSI (1988:295). Furthermore SSI and SKI have had a role when it comes to society’s emergency management through the Emergency Preparedness Or- dinance (2002:472). Several authorities are jointly responsible for planning and co-ordinating security and emergency measures.
The development and practice of an on-site emergency preparedness plan is a licensing condition. This requirement is specified in the general safety regulations (SKIFS 2004:1) and in Regulations on Emergency Planning at certain Nuclear Facilities (SSI FS 2005:2). The regulations are applicable to spent fuel and radioactive waste management facilities as well as to nuclear power plants and nuclear fuel production facilities.
It is required of the licence-holders that in case of incidents that could lead to a radiological acci- dent, there are plans for:
alerting the emergency preparedness personnel without delay; •
bringing the plant to a safe and stable state; •
ascertaining personnel safety; and •
providing information about the technical and radiological situation at the plant. •
The plan shall be kept up to date and tested in regular exercises. It is further required that there are specially assigned and trained personnel, suitable emergency operating centres, technical systems, tools and protective equipment to the extent needed to carry out the tasks mentioned. Further details about planning conditions are given in the general recommendations to the regulations.
In the Civil Protection Act and Ordinance it is stated that a county is responsible for the protection of and information to the citizens living there in the event of a nuclear accident of any kind. The Swe- dish Rescue Services Agency has also issued requirements on alarming and informing the public.
Sweden has signed the Convention of Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency and the Convention of Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident. Sweden has in addition made several bilateral agreements concerning information in the event of an accident. These conven- tions and bilateral agreements apply to all nuclear facilities, including facilities for the management of spent nuclear fuel or radioactive waste.
The licence-holders are required to carry out exercises every year. In addition to internal exercises and drills a nuclear power plant has a comprehensive national exercise together with the county and central authorities every eighth year, to check the emergency plans and the capability of the on-site and off-site organisations. These exercises are planned by the respective county administration and are evaluated by the Rescue Services Agency. Some 15 to 30 organisations usually participate in these exercises. SSI and SKI have participated in the planning, the exercises, and in the evaluation process.
F.5.2 national monitoring and measuring
21A network of permanent radiation monitoring stations (SSI gamma stations) has been in operation since the end of the 1950s. After the Chernobyl accident, the number of monitoring stations was increased from 25 to 37, and data transmission to SSI via modems and telephone lines was introduced. The sta- tions are designed to initiate an alarm in the event of elevated radiation levels. All components of the system are now out of date and the entire monitoring system must be replaced or upgraded. Due to this, only 32 stations are in operation at present. A decision to purchase a completely new system has been made, and a specification for offers is being prepared. The number of monitoring stations will be similar to the present system. The network of automatic weather stations will be used for the localisation of the new station network. The Swedish Defence Research Agency is contracted to keep six air filter stations in operation, including analysis of the air filter samples. SSI has made an agreement with the Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute for continual dispersion forecasts and handling of internatio- nal alarms (National Warning Point). The dispersion forecasts for hypothetical emissions are calculated every six hours for all Swedish nuclear power plants and for a number of nuclear power plants in neigh- bouring countries. The forecasts are continuously available at SSI.
The Swedish radiation monitoring resources consist of the laboratory at SSI and nine other labora- tories under contract with SSI. The nuclear power plants participate in the national preparedness on a voluntary basis. The laboratories under contract are obliged to maintain a preparedness organisation and to have equipment calibrated and ready to use but they are not obliged to respond within a certain time. The laboratories are spread over Sweden and they are mainly situated at university institutions, but a few of them are situated in central authorities and one is at a private company. The laboratories have ex- pertise and resources for gamma spectrometry, alpha spectrometry, liquid scintillation counting, whole body counting and retrospective dosimetry. For field monitoring there are six mobile radiation laborato- ries (three trucks and three carriers) placed among the ten laboratories. The trucks and the carriers have equipment for mobile gamma spectrometry, in situ gamma spectrometry and environmental sampling. Several different handheld instruments for dose rate monitoring, nuclide identification and gross alpha and beta counting are also part of the equipment. Through the Geological Survey of Sweden, one of the laboratories under contract with SSI, there is a very good resource for aerial surveys. With around three months of aerial surveys per year the team is very experienced. In addition to the system from the Geological Survey, three of the six mobile laboratories have equipment for aerial surveys. In case of an R/N-incident in Sweden, helicopters from the Swedish Police Service would be used for aerial surveys with these systems. An organisation for radiation measurements in agriculture, using voluntary defence organizations and the contract laboratories mentioned above, has been equipped and trained over the last couple of years and is now fully operational.
F.5.3 Regulatory control
SSI and SKI have inspected the on-site emergency preparedness both separately and together. Areas that have been assessed are documentation and implementation of plans and regulations. SSI have also inspected the capabilities of the licence-holders to ensure the radiation protection of their staff in ac- cidents with high radiation levels, and procedures for alarming and to provide continued information about technical and radiation protection status.
In addition to inspections of the emergency planning, SKI and SSI have occasionally inspected the plant actions during emergency exercises. For this purpose a special inspection model has been develo- ped in order to assess the most important tasks for safety. The counties’ off-site emergency planning is reviewed by the Swedish Rescue Services Agency.
F.5.4 Conclusion
Sweden complies with the obligations of Article 25.