The objective of the exercise was to check the preparedness of district administration and the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) site management in meeting any emergency situation, despite the fact that such an occurrence is most unlikely in a nuclear power plant because of the “Defence in Dept”; philosophy in the design and operation of the plant, a release from DAE said.
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DAE, Kalpakkam Centre has many units functioning, such as Madras Atomic Power Station (MAPS) under Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited (NPCIL), Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR) (under commissioning by BHAVINI), BARC facilities.
The Integrated Command, Control and Response (ICCR) mode off-site emergency exercise was conducted without disturbing the normal life of the general public in the district.
The entire scenario and the event timelines were kept as a complete surprise in order to enhance the realism in the response of officials of both DAE and District Disaster Management Authority (DDMA).
Accordingly, adequate care was taken to keep the public well informed of the exercise.Read more: India’s Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor achieves criticality, marks entry into stage-II nuclear programme
The release further said during the exercise, an incident scenario at the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor leading to an off-site emergency was enacted in a highly compressed timeframe.
The villages — Arambakkam, Manamai, Kadambadi, Edaiyur, Kokkilamedu, Vadakadambadi, Perumaleri, Kunnathur, Poonjeri and Mamallapuram — were covered in the exercise, the release added.