Emergency Response Activities

Enabling worldwide use of specialized and tailored products in support of environmental emergency response relevant to dispersion of airborne hazardous substances.

The Emergency Response Activities (ERA) Programme was established to assist National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs), their respective national agencies and relevant international organizations to respond effectively to environmental emergencies relevant to transport and dispersion of airborne hazardous substances. Following the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident in 1986, the ERA Programme focused its operational arrangements and support on nuclear facility accidents. WMO has operational international arrangements in place with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).  The Programme has been expanded to include emergency response for non-nuclear environmental emergencies such as the dispersion of smoke from large fires, ash and other emissions from volcanic eruptions, and chemical releases from industrial accidents.

Scope

The Programme uses and applies specialized atmospheric transport and dispersion modelling techniques to track and predict the spread of airborne hazardous substances in the event of an environmental emergency. Designated Centres of WMO Integrated Processing and Prediction System (WIPPS) conducting both nuclear and non-nuclear environmental emergency response implement and maintain ATDMs to provide the minimum set of ATDM products.

Objective

The Programme assists National Meteorological and Hydrological Services, their respective national agencies and relevant international organizations to respond effectively to environmental emergencies relevant to dispersion of airborne hazardous substances. Through the WMO Technical Commissions, there is also consideration of response to marine environmental emergencies. More information concerning the marine aspect is at Marine Environmental Emergency Response (MEER).

Structure

Ten Regional Specialized Meteorological Centres (RSMCs) conducting nuclear environmental emergency response stand by 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to provide, at all times, highly specialized computer-based simulations of the atmosphere that predict the long-range movement of airborne radioactivity. These RSMCs are located globally in Beijing (China), Exeter (United Kingdom), Melbourne (Australia), Montreal (Canada), Obninsk (Russian Federation), Offenbach (Germany), Tokyo (Japan), Toulouse (France), Vienna (Austria) and Washington (USA). The system also includes a telecommunication gateway at Regional Telecommunication Hub (RTH) Offenbach (Germany) to provide notifications and real-time information linkage between the Incident and Emergency Centre of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and WMO. When requested, these centres provide specialized products within three hours to National Meteorological Centres and IAEA.

The RSMCs also participate in related activities, including those of the international Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident and the Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency, that are designed assuming an accident or failure at a nuclear power plant.

WMO has expanded the scope and capabilities of the ERA Programme from its original arrangements for nuclear emergencies to include non-nuclear environmental emergencies.

Components

The core components are the nuclear Emergency Response Activities and the non-nuclear Emergency Response Activities. Coordination, integration and efficient operation of these components are achieved through the WMO Integrated Processing and Prediction System (WIPPS) under the governance and management of the Commission for Observation, Infrastructure and Information Systems (Infrastructure Commission).

Nuclear ERA

Good planning in advance of an emergency can substantially improve ‌response. To this end, the Joint Radiation Emergency Management Plan of the International Organizations was developed and is maintained by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with the support of relevant international organizations that are party to the International Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident and the Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency, and some international organizations that participate in the activities of the Interagency Committee on Response to Nuclear Accidents. WMO is a party to these Conventions and participates in the regular review and maintenance of the Joint Plan, including the Convention Exercise Programme.

For more than 25 years, as part of the Joint Plan, WMO has operational international arrangements in place with the IAEA to provide specialized meteorological support to environmental emergency response related to nuclear accidents and radiological emergencies, when needed. WMO plays an important role in this connection through its unique numerical weather prediction capability for simulating and predicting the movement and dispersal of radioactive materials in the atmosphere.

In addition to the ERA, IAEA and WMO provide recommendations and guidance on how to comply with the safety requirements on assessing hazards associated with meteorological and hydrological phenomena in site evaluation for nuclear installations. WMO developed the Guidelines on Meteorological and Hydrological Aspects of Siting and Operation of Nuclear Power Plants (WMO-No. 550) to assist NMHSs in addressing the technical aspects for implementing the guidance provided in Meteorological and Hydrological Hazards in Site Evaluation for Nuclear Installations (IAEA, 2011).

Non-nuclear ERA

WMO has expanded the scope and capabilities of the ERA Programme from its original arrangements for nuclear emergencies to include non-nuclear environmental emergencies. Many National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHSs) are responsible for providing meteorological support to chemical accident emergency response. The services range from weather observations, forecasts and warnings provided to field operations, to the provision of specialized products and expert advice on the atmospheric dispersal of pollutants. Some governments are investing and cooperating in science and technology and reviewing operational arrangements to enhance their respective level of security measures, including in the areas of environmental monitoring in complex environments and numerical modelling and simulations for detection, assessment and prediction of atmospheric transport of hazardous materials. All these aspects contribute to risk management in the context of disaster prevention and mitigation.