DAE conducts site emergency exercise at Kalpakkam

The Department of Atomic Energy (DAE), Kalpakkam Centre, conducted a site emergency exercise on Wednesday as part of its emergency, preparedness and response plan. The center has multiple facilities functioning at Kalpakkam, including Madras Atomic Power Station (operated by Nuclear Power Corporation of India Limited) and Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research among others.

The unannounced exercise was overseen by the Kalpakkam Emergency Committee (KEC) headed by M. Seshaiah, Station Director, Madras Atomic Power Station who is also the Site Emergency Director. The objective of the exercise was to check the preparedness of Kalpakkam DAE Centre and response of the Plant Management in meeting any remote emergency situation, despite the fact that such an occurrence is highly unlikely.

The major response actions demonstrated at the exercise include sheltering of site personnel in their respective units, mock treatment of injured person, administration of stable iodine tablets (notionally toffees) to the personnel as a protective action and evacuation of all non-essential personnel among others.

Senior officials observed the exercise where over 6,000 personnel participated. The evacuation of the site personnel was accomplished within one and a half hours. The entire site emergency exercise was completed in three and half hours. The exercise was successful in meeting the requirements stipulated by AERB for emergency preparedness and response at nuclear facilities.