Emergency Response Activities

Good planning in advance of an emergency can substantially improve the response. To this end, the Joint Radiation Emergency Management Plan of the International Organizations was developed and is maintained by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the international organizations which are party to the International Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident and the Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency, and some international organizations that participate in the activities of the Interagency Committee on Response to Nuclear Accidents. WMO is a party to these Conventions and participates in the regular review and maintenance of the Joint Plan, including the Convention Exercise Programme.

For more than 25 years, as part of the Joint Plan, WMO has operational international arrangements in place with the IAEA to trigger specialized meteorological support to environmental emergency response related to nuclear accidents and radiological emergencies, when needed. WMO plays an important role in this connection through its unique numerical weather prediction capability for simulating and predicting the movement and dispersal of radioactive materials in the atmosphere.

In addition to the ERA, IAEA and WMO provides recommendations and guidance on how to comply with the safety requirements on assessing hazards associated with meteorological and hydrological phenomena in site evaluation for nuclear installations. WMO developed the Guidelines on Meteorological and Hydrological Aspects of Siting and Operation of Nuclear Power Plants (WMO-No. 550) to assist NMHSs in addressing the technical aspects for implementing the guidance provided in Meteorological and Hydrological Hazards in Site Evaluation for Nuclear Installations (IAEA, 2011).

WMO has expanded the scope and capabilities of the ERA Programme from its original arrangements for nuclear emergencies to include non-nuclear environmental emergencies. Many National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) have a national responsibility to provide meteorological support to chemical accident emergency response. The services range from weather observations, forecasts and warnings provided to field operations, to the provision of specialized products and expert advice on the atmospheric dispersal of pollutants. Some governments are investing and cooperating in science and technology and reviewing operational arrangements to enhance their respective level of security measures, including in the areas of environmental monitoring in complex environments and numerical modelling and simulations for detection, assessment and prediction of atmospheric transport of hazardous materials. All these aspects contribute to the management of risk in the context of disaster prevention and mitigation.