IAEA, NNRA AND NAEC ORGANIZES NATIONAL VIRTUAL WORKSHOP ON DEVELOPING A PROTECTION STRATEGY FOR A NUCLEAR OR RADIOLOGICAL EMERGENCY IN ABUJA, NIGERIA FROM 5TH TO 9TH JULY, 2021.

IAEA, NNRA AND NAEC ORGANIZES NATIONAL VIRTUAL WORKSHOP ON DEVELOPING A PROTECTION STRATEGY FOR A NUCLEAR OR RADIOLOGICAL EMERGENCY IN ABUJA, NIGERIA FROM 5TH TO 9TH JULY, 2021.

The Workshop was organized virtually by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and was designed to bring at par the NNRA Draft National Nuclear and Radiological Emergency Plan (NNREP) with the General Safety Requirement, Preparedness and Response for a Nuclear or Radiological Emergency - GSR Part 7, THIS introduces Protection Strategy as a major tool in response to Nuclear or Radiological Emergencies.  The event was geared towards the transfer of practical knowledge and new experience in Nuclear or Radiological Emergency Plan to the representatives of different radiation emergency response organizations in Nigeria. The objective of the nuclear or radiological response plan is to protect persons, properties, society and the environment from harmful consequences of nuclear or radiological emergencies. 

The workshop was aimed at training personnel of relevant response organizations on how to develop, justify and optimize protection strategy for a nuclear or radiological emergency and to understand the dosimetric framework that guide the process of implementing protection strategy as required in Requirement 5 of GSR Part 7. The workshop also provided a forum for the participants to discuss the national practices and share their experiences as response organizations, as well as identify good practices and areas that need improvement with regard to protection strategy in National Nuclear or Radiological Emergency Plan. 

The IAEA during the training provided participants with a wide variety of Nuclear or Radiological Emergency Response courses centered on Development of Protection Strategy.  The working session discussions, case study and table top exercises, were also part of the training event where participants were presented with different postulated scenarios in nuclear or radiological emergencies and were asked to simulate, analyze  and identify, justified and optimized protective actions to be applied during such nuclear or radiological emergencies.

Participants were drawn from Nigerian Nuclear Regulatory Authority (NNRA), Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission (NAEC), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the Media, the Military, Nigerian Police Force (NPF), Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Federal Fire Services (FFS), Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), NGOs, Medical Responders, State and Local Authorities responsible for decision making. A total of Twenty-Four (44) participants attended the programme.