Ignalina Handbook

6.3 In Latvia

 

The largest nuclear facility in Latvia is a research reactor with power level of 5 MW located near Salaspils about 20 km away from Riga. The main concern is the Ignalina plant located near border of Latvia. It means that safety requirements and resources needed to meet these requirements are not less than if this plant would be located in the country [18].

A national emergency preparedness plan is under development [19]. The main purpose of this plan is to ensure coordinated-in-time national-wide emergency preparedness for and response to radiation and nuclear accidents that constitute a direct menace to health and safety of people as well as have a damaging impact on the environment or property. The national emergency preparedness plan assigns specific emer-gency support functions to all relevant governmental

institutions in accordance with their competence, determines actions in case of a radiation or nuclear accident, provides a mechanism for mutual cooperation as well as ensures the provision of necessary resources and appropriate applications of these for the protection of health and safety of people. This plan encompasses:

• any radiation or nuclear accident of magnitude exceeding the emergency response capabilities of a particular local authorities and thereby demanding the assistance of one or a number of the governmental institutions and their mutual cooperation;
• any radiation or nuclear accident when the emergency response of the governmental institutions is necessary according to the national emergency preparedness plan.

The governmental institutions develop their own particular emergency plans, each correspondingly to their functional responsibilities. The local governments of the districts and major cities also develop their own emergency response plans for their particular administrative territories. These plans are reviewed and updated annually. They serve as a basis for devising an overall national plan.

 

6.3.1 Legal Basis and Responsibilities of Different Institutions

 

According the law on International Agreements of the Republic of Latvia, the Conventions ratified by the Parliament have higher legal status if compared with national laws [20]. Therefore until new legislation is adopted, the Conventions have the status of national laws, or the provision of the Conventions have to be used if there are differences from the national laws. The following Conventions were ratified by the Parliament of Latvia: Convention of Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident, Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency, Radiation Protection Convention, Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage as well as Joint Protocol Relating to Application of the Vienna Convention and the Paris Convention.

A law on Radiation Safety and Nuclear Safety was passed by the Parliament and has been in force since 1995. It governs all activities relevant to radioactive or nuclear materials and other sources of ionizing radiation. The law establishes the basis requirements of radiation and nuclear safety. The law on Civil Protection in Latvia was adopted in December 1992. According to this law the Civil Defence Center was nominated as a main executive organization in the area of civil defence and set up the system of fast response forces. The most important new document will be the Basic Safety Regulations for Protection against Ionizing Radiation, which contains chapters on public information on nuclear activities and early warning in case of nuclear or radiological incident.

The roles and obligations of different institutions in case of radiation and nuclear accident as well as their emergency response functions are determined by mentioned above laws and legislative deeds [19]. In accordance with the legislation the Civil Defence Center is a national level emergency management agency responsible for:

• developing, exercising and maintaining the national emergency preparedness plan;
• providing overall coordination of the planning process at the national and district/city level;
• alerting, notifying and providing information to the public on the national level;
• coordination of emergency response at the national level;
• providing for uninterrupted and reliable functioning of the emergency communication;
• coordination of international assistance;
• organization of radiation and nuclear emergency exercises at the regional and national levels, civil defence training of the population and the staff of the governmental and local authorities, enterprises and organizations.

One of the main authorities in protecting of population in case of an accident is the Ministry of Welfare. This ministry is responsible for:

• provision of emergency and specialist medical aid to the victims of radiation and nuclear accidents;
• coordination of the preventive stable iodine treatment and social care;
• working out proposals regarding the necessary medical outfit and equipment for the emergency response and rescue services personnel;
• development of a data base on the supplies of medical resources in health institutions as well as of proposals on the necessity to change or supplement the existing state reserves of the medical materials and equipment;
• assessment and forecasting of the harm inflicted by radiation and nuclear accidents;
• recommendation for the protection of the population and the environment against radiation ;
• dosimetric and radiometric control of the people, food-stuffs, potable water and surface waters at the places of recreation, means of transportation, etc.;
• hygienic and epidemic control at the places of the deployment of the emergency response services personnel, places of collecting and treatment of the victims, places of sheltering and temporary accommodation of the evacuees;
• a long-term population and environmental health monitoring development of the register of the radiation and nuclear accident victims;
• evaluation of the total radiation doses as well as those received by the certain individual organs of the victims.

The Ministry of the Environmental Protection and Regional Development is responsible for:

• early radiation warning;
• environmental radiation monitoring;
• assessment and forecasting of the metereological and radiation situation;
• recommendations of protective measures to be undertaken;
• exchange of information with other countries and international organizations.

The Ministry of Communication shall ensure reliable functioning of the existing system of communications,

provide additional communication means and means of transportation for the needs of evacuation. The Ministry of Defence is responsible for public work, radiation reconnaissance, decontamination, maintenance of the public order, guarding of the contaminated areas, safeguarding of the public and private property in the course and after evacuation. The Ministry of Interior shall ensure firefighting and rescue, maintenance of order in public places, guarding of the contaminated areas, safeguarding public and private property in the course and after evacuation, making of the register of evacuees, decontamination, checking of the transit of radioactive materials and preventing the illegal transportation of these.

 

6.3.2 Criteria for Radiation Protection of Inhabitants

 

Initial protective action criteria for inhabitants are established on the basis of the IAEA recom-mendations [20]. These criteria are summarized in Table 6.6.

 

Table 6.6 Initial protective action criteria for inhabitants [20]

Basis	Default Criteria		Protective Action
Dose projections	Distance where projected dose > 50 mSv		Prepare population for evacuation and conduct monitoring
Gamma dose rate	1 mSv/h		Evacuate
in plume	Unreduced release 0.1 mSv/h		Take thyroid blocking
	Reduced release 1 mSv/h		(if available)
	1 mSv/h		Evacuate
Gamma dose rate	Measurements taken 2-30 days after accident 0.2 mSv/h		Consider relocating people
from deposition	1 mSv/h		Do not eat potentially contaminated food or milk from grazing cows or goats
Ground deposition I-131,	General Food	Milk and water	Do not eat potentially contaminated fresh produce or drink milk from cows
kBq/m2	10	1	or goats grazing in area
Ground deposition Cs-137,	General Food	Milk and water	Do not eat potentially contaminated fresh produce or drink milk from cows
kBq/m2	2	2	or goats grazing in area
Food and milk concentrations Cs-137,	General Food	Milk and water	Do not eat
kBq/kg	1	1
Food and milk concentrations within 2 weeks of accident I-131,	General Food	Milk and water	Do not eat
kBq/kg	1	0.1

 

6.3.3 Emergency Management

 

According to law on Civil Protection the emergency management system in Latvia has two national and local levels [18].

The responsibility for the operational management at the national level of the emergency situation caused by radiation and nuclear accident lies with the President of Ministers [19]. In order to implement the governmental functions of the emergency management, the President of Ministers sets up a State Emergency Operation Commission. The chairman of this Commission is either the President of Ministers or a person appointed by him, the deputy chairman is the director of Civil Defence Center. As a principal members of the State Emergency Operation Commission are included responsible representatives authorized to make decision from the Ministers of Defence, Foreign Affairs, Economics, Finance, Interior, Welfare, Agriculture, Communications, and Environmental Protection and Regional Development. The State Emergency Operation Commission is set up in advance, before an actual emergency has happened. Its staff is approved by the President of Ministers. The organizational basis for the work of the State Emergency Operation Commission is the headquarters of the Civil Defence Center.

The State Emergency Operation Commission sets up a mobile management team, a commission of experts and an operational information Center. Their staffs are approved by the chairman of the State Emergency Operation Commission. The mobile management team organizes the operational management of the emergency situation in conjunction with the local governments of the districts and cities. This team comprises representatives from Civil Defence Center, and the Ministries of Interior, Defence, Communications, Welfare, Agriculture, and Environmental Protection and Regional Development. The commission of experts analyses the causes and effects of the emergency, forecasts, the development of the emergency situation and works out appropriate recommendations with regards to necessary measures to protect people, domestic animals, and the environment. This commission comprises representatives from the Ministries of Welfare, Agriculture, and Environmental Protection and Regional Development as well as from the Civil Defence Center. The operational information Center collects and processes operational information, reports to the State Emergency Operation Commission, Parliament and other relevant national and local (municipal) authorities, issues press releases and bulletins for the mass media and population, call press conferences. The information Center comprises representatives from the Cabinet of Ministers, Ministries of Communications, Welfare, Interior, Environmental Protection and Regional Development, Civil Defence Center as well as journalists from the press, radio, TV.

The responsibility for emergency planning and response at the local level rests with local governments [18]. Where appropriate, their capabilities may be augmented by mutual aid agreement with neighboring local governments. The head of a city or district government bears the responsibility for emergency preparedness and response in its administrative territory. Depending on the needs and capabilities, the local government may hire a single person or a number of civil emergency officers for planning and coordination work, or even create an Emergency Operation Center on a 24-hour basis with a larger staff. In rural districts there are usually one or two civil emergency officers, while the six largest cities have local Emergency Operations Centers, the biggest of which, except Riga, being in Daugavpils manned with 25 persons, mainly because of the proximity of the Ignalina NPP. It is clear that neither the head of local government nor civil emergency officers are in a position to solve all the problems relating to emergency preparedness and response. In this connection the law provides that an Emergency Operations Commission must be set up by a local government whose main responsibility is the overall emergency management and coordination of response operations in the case of an accident. This Commission is to be composed of senior civil emergency officers and representatives of services and organizations including utilities responsible for emergency preparedness and response in the city or district. In the districts and cities the main emergency response forces consist of the Fire and Rescue Service, State and Municipal Police as well as Disaster Medical Services. In their day-to-day activities the above services operate separately, coordinating their actions between themselves directly, as needed. In the case of an accident the overall management and coordination is taken over by the city Emergency Operations Center and if necessary, the Emergency Operations Commission of a district or city is convened. If an emergency overwhelm the capabilities of a district or city, or if several districts or cities are affected at the same time, a State Emergency Operations Commission may be convened whose responsibility is to coordinate response and rescue operations on a regional and national levels, the Civil Defence Center of Latvia acting then as the headquarters.