
23 Sep Annual flood preparedness exercise completed
Every year, the Danish Decommissioning Emergency Response Team practices flood protection for the lowest storage facility
7 men were on standby at 7.00 a.m. when the Danish Decommissioning Emergency Response Team had to test the many elements that together make up the flood protection of the Danish Decommissioning's lowest storage facility.
A storage facility that currently houses more than 5,000 drums of low-level waste.
Watertubes, Floodsax and more
Today's exercise involved the deployment of Watertubes - large plastic tubes designed to act as a dam in the event of flooding, Floodsax - a type of sandbag, as well as testing various pumps and other equipment. All this to be sure that both material and crew can act in a situation where there is a possible high tide and consequent flooding at Risø.
In addition to the 7 staff from Danish Decommissioning, which together make up the emergency services, there were also visits from The Danish Emergency Management Agency and The Danish Health Authority's radiation protection (SIS), two organisations which together make up the nuclear regulatory authorities.
Good practice yields good lessons
The day's exercise went according to plan and by 11.30 the last items were packed away. Valuable lessons were learned during the exercise, and combined with the warnings that will come in the event of an imminent flood, the low-level waste at the warehouse will be well protected in the future.
Bjarne Damsgaard, who is responsible for high tide preparedness and therefore also the leader of today's exercise, sees great value in the annual exercise.
"We practice every year, both to make sure that the equipment is in order, but also to make sure that the people who will have to act in such a situation are confident in the tasks. Today's exercise gave us some valuable experience that we will continue to use in the future"
In the 19-year lifetime of the Danish Decommissioning Authority, there has never been a need for emergency preparedness.
The closest it has come was during storm Bodil in 2013, when there was an elevated water level in Roskilde of 2.06 m. A water level that was still well off the floor level of the low-lying storage facility.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]