Da Nang City-level nuclear and radiation incident response drill in 2024

Da Nang City-level radiation and nuclear incident response drill in 2024. Implemented by: XUAN QUYNH

The drill scenario corresponds to the situation of “insecurity of group A radioactive sources”. The hypothetical situation is an incident that causes a loss of security and safety of group A radioactive sources. Specifically, the irradiation line of the Da Nang Radiation Technology Research and Development Center had an incident where a Co-60 source was hooked to a container and left the irradiation chamber, posing a risk of losing security and safety of nuclear radiation. At the same time, radiation from the source bar could cause a fire in the container.

Realizing that the situation was beyond the facility's ability to respond, the Center reported and requested assistance from the authorities.

The response drill includes activities such as: bringing the source rod to the source tank; fire fighting; medical care; assessing radioactive contamination for victims and response forces; disinfecting and cleaning the cargo hold...

The participating forces include members of the Steering Committee for Radiation and Nuclear Incident Response at the Da Nang City level, including: Department of Science and Technology, Police, City Military Command, Department of Health, Center for Research and Development of Radiation Technology - Da Nang facility.

According to Ms. Nguyen Thi Anh Thi, Vice Chairwoman of Da Nang City People's Committee, the radiation and nuclear incident response drill plays an important role in propaganda work, raising awareness and responsibility of the community in ensuring radiation safety and security of radioactive sources; enhancing leadership capacity and organizing coordination among forces in incident response work in the area.

Mr. Nguyen Tuan Khai, Director of the Department of Radiation and Nuclear Safety (Ministry of Science and Technology), said that Da Nang is one of the provinces and cities that was approved to conduct a radiation and nuclear incident response drill quite early. This drill was held at an industrial irradiation facility, using a group A radioactive source - the highest level among radioactive sources. This scenario is a typical incident that has occurred in the world and the region.

“The scenario development assesses the facility’s understanding of the operation and handling of radioactive sources as well as the technical capacity and human resources in the handling process at the facility and coordination with relevant departments. In particular, the incident handling process used robots – the highest safety measure, avoiding direct impact that causes risks to humans,” Mr. Khai said.

>>>Some pictures at the rehearsal. Photo: XUAN QUYNH