The adequacy of emergency response arrangements can be evaluated through the audit and review of plans, procedures and infrastructure (pre­paredness). The ability to carry out the required emergency actions (response) can be assessed through audits and reviews of past performance, but it is most commonly evaluated through exercises.

Emergency response exercises are a key component of a good emergency preparedness programme. They can provide a unique insight into the state of preparedness of emergency response organizations. They can also be the basis for continued improvement programmes for the emergency response infrastructure. However, to be most useful, emergency response exercises need to be well organized, professionally conducted and focused on the potential for constructive improvement. Nuclear emergency response exer­cises are a powerful tool for verifying and improving the quality of emer­gency response arrangements. Each exercise represents a significant investment of effort, financial resources and people. It is therefore impor­tant for each exercise to yield the maximum benefit. That benefit depends primarily on the quality of the preparation, conduct and evaluation of the exercise.

An emergency response exercise is not an isolated event, but rather a part of an overall exercise programme that is normally implemented over a cycle of several years. This cycle includes several types of emergency exercise. The programme is conducted to validate emergency plans and procedures and to test performance, to train intervention personnel in a realistic situation, and to explore and test new concepts and ideas for emer­gency arrangements. Emergency preparedness programmes should also include considerations and arrangements for international liaison, notifica­tion, exchange of information and assistance. According to the IAEA rec­ommendations (IAEA, 2007) a cycle of emergency exercises includes several types of drills and exercises. The most common are as follows.

• Drills normally involve small groups of persons in a learning process designed to ensure that essential skills and knowledge are available for the accomplishment of non-routine tasks such as emergency radiation measurements or the use of emergency communication procedures. A drill can also be used to assess the adequacy of personnel training and is usually supervised and evaluated by qualified instructors. It normally covers a particular component, or a group of related components, associ­ated with the implementation of the emergency plan and is conducted several times per year.

• Tabletop exercises are discussion-type workouts conducted around a table. All the participants are in the same room or building and no com­munication link with any outside body is necessary. They are not usually conducted in real time and their main focus is on decision-making, assessment, public and media communication policy definition, and implementation.

• Partial and full-scale exercises are simulations used to allow a number of groups and organizations to act and interact in a coordinated fashion. The focus of partial and full-scale exercises is on coordination and cooperation. Exercises can be partially or fully integrated. The inte­grated full-scale exercise involves the full participation by all on-site and off-site response organizations. Its major objective is to verify that the overall coordination, control, interaction and performance of the response organizations are effective and that they make the best use of available resources. Combined on-site/off-site exercises are usually per­formed to test both the on-site and off-site responses and the interface mechanisms in place, which are so important to a proper overall response. In fact, the interface aspects are often the weak link in the emergency response system and need to be tested and updated frequently. When appropriate, partial and full-scale exercises should be organized to train intervention organizations to respond simultaneously to a nuclear acci­dent and a natural or anthropogenic disaster affecting the same areas.

• Field exercises focus on the tasks and coordination of resources that must be operated at or around the site of an emergency. Those include means used by survey teams, police, medical first-aid and fire-fighting teams. Field exercises are conducted on their own or combined with a partial or full-scale exercise. Figure 12.2 shows first responders prepar­ing to intervene in a nuclear emergency field exercise carried out by the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Defence and the Nuclear Safety Council in Madrid (Spain) in 2010.

The frequency of integrated exercises is a matter to be determined by the regulatory authorities. Usually an integrated exercise is conducted in every nuclear facility every year. After every emergency exercise, a per­formance evaluation is conducted to identify areas of emergency plans and preparedness that may need to be improved or enhanced. As a result of an exercise evaluation, there may also be recommendations on ways to correct the identified deficiencies, problems or weaknesses.

Several international organizations conduct nuclear emergency exercises at different scales. Significant examples of these international exercises are ConvEx exercises organized by the IAEA (Martincic and Obrentz, 2008), INEX exercises organized by the Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA, 2007) and ECURIE exercises organized by the European Commission (EU, 1987a).

Similar exercises are conducted by other international organizations at regional level in America and Eastern Asia. In addition, some international organizations, such as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO, the World Meteorological Organization, WMO and the World Health Organization, WHO, organize nuclear or radiological emergency exercises focused on topics under their specific responsibilities. Figure 12.3 show the follow-up of an international nuclear emergency exercise at the IAEA Incident and Emergency Centre.