On July 12, a press conference was held in Kyiv on the experience of implementing the RODOS system in Ukraine – the European system for decision-making support in case of radiation accidents.
Mr. Ulf Rosengard, Project Manager of Directorate-General for International Cooperation and Development – EuropeAid (Brussels), Mr. Wolfgang Raskob, Head of Accidence Consequence Group of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany), Mr. Vitalii Petruk, the Head of the State Agency of Ukraine on Exclusion Zone Management (SAEZM), representatives of the State Nuclear Regulatory Authority, National Nuclear Energy Generating Company “Energoatom” took part in the conference. Mr. Sergei Goncharov, Head of Information Technology Department, represented the Chernobyl NPP.
The press conference was held within the framework of the Project “Extension of Decision-Making Support System in Ukraine for Chernobyl Exclusion Zone”, funded by the European Union. As EU experts and representatives of Ukrainian departments noted during the conference, during the last seven years the system has been implemented at each of four Ukrainian nuclear power plants and in the Exclusion Zone.
"The last version included an option for response during forest fires in contaminated areas, floods or tornados" – noted in their speeches Mr. Wolfgang Raskob, Project Coordinator for RODOS Development and Implementation, Head of Accidence Consequence Group of the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, and Mr. Dmitrii Trebushnyi, the system software coordinator.
The implementation of the RODOS decision support system in the Exclusion Zone significantly increased the level of operational emergency response, replenished and developed the system, which existed in the Exclusion Zone. The system can be used to assess the radiological risks associated with forest fires, tornados, flooding of flood-plain areas in the Exclusion Zone, as well as with the work related to decommissioning of the ChNPP,” emphasized Mr. Vitalii Petruk, Head of SAEZM.
According to Mr. Sergei Goncharov, Head of Information Technology Department of the Chernobyl NPP, six months ago the latest version of this system was installed at the Plant. The system was tested and proved its worth during a fire, which happened on June 5, 2018 near the Chernobyl NPP. The RODOS system will be also used to develop additional scenarios for response to emergency events that may occur during the operation of the NSC, ISF-1, ISF-2, or the transportation of spent nuclear fuel.
For information
RODOS (Realtime Online DecisiOn Support System) is the system used for forecasting and support to minimize the consequences of potential radiation accidents. The system was developed with the support of the European Commission and installed in national emergency response centers in more than 20 countries in Europe and the world. In Ukraine, the RODOS system was implemented by the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (Germany) in cooperation with the Ministry of Energy and Coal Industry of Ukraine, the State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate of Ukraine, the SAEZM and the State Emergency Service.
Since 1991, the European Union has been providing support to improve safety of the nuclear sphere of Ukraine and funded more than 900 million euros. These projects include improving the safety of operation and repair of four Ukrainian nuclear power plants, assistance in the creation of an appropriate national infrastructure for radioactive waste management, institutional support for the Ukrainian nuclear regulatory authority, providing funds for the New Safe Confinement over the damaged Chernobyl nuclear power plant reactor, and a number of social projects to support the communities that face the consequences of the 1986 Chernobyl accident.
Photo by SSTC NRS.
