With a view to strengthening the capacity of the State Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) and the State Police (SP) to react to radiation accidents and to implement emergency measures to remove the consequences of such accidents and to ensure the protection of personnel, the National Environmental Service Radiation Safety Centre (NESRSC) released radiation measurement equipment to representatives of the SFRS and SP on Thursday, May 21, a gift.
8 radiation measuring equipment and their optional equipment have been transferred to the SFRS, which will ensure the protection of officials of the SFRS by means of response and elimination measures, as well as the decontamination of the population, buildings, roads, machinery and animals affected by the radiological accident. These metering equipment will also be used for training at the Fire and Civil Protection College.
On the other hand, 5 metering equipment and their optional equipment have been placed on the property of the SP, which will allow employees of the SP to identify sources of orphan radiation during inspections of merchants, as well as ensure the protection of the officials responsible by managing measures in cases where unknown origin substances or objects are found and they are suspected to contain radioactive substances.
Radiation measuring equipment and their optional equipment have been received by the RDC within the framework of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) National Technical Cooperation Project LAT9014 “Enhancing Nuclear and Radiation Safety and Organizational Effectiveness of Regulatory Infrastructure”. One of the objectives of the project is to improve the material technical base of Latvian institutions by performing emergency response and mitigation measures in conformity with the radiation safety and nuclear safety requirements specified in regulatory enactments, and to improve the training process, as well as to improve the possibilities for co-operation between responsible authorities within the framework of the State Disaster Medical Plan and the Civil Protection System.
Facilities delivered with IAEA financial support will also be transferred to the Emergency Medical Service in the near future. On the other hand, following a review of the emergency situation and the precautionary measures to limit the Covid-19 pandemic, the SES NESRSC will organise input training of the representatives of the institutions on the operation of the transferred measuring equipment and their optional equipment.
Prepared by: State Environmental Service