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National Radiation Laboratory |
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Regulatory
Emergency preparedness and response
Radioactive sources are used for a wide variety of purposes in industry, medicine, research and education. Each year there are thousands of transport movements of radioactive materials associated with these activities.
The Radiation Incident Response Plan (RIRP) exists to provide protection for the public and emergency services in the event of incidents arising from the use and transport of such radioactive materials in cases where no specific plans are available or existing plans fail to operate effectively. These may, for example, involve transport accidents and the discovery of real or suspect radioactive materials in public places.
The plan has been formulated around the provision of radiological protection advice to the fire and police services, since they have the prime responsibility of ensuring the safety of the general public.
In support of the plan the NRL has a Duty Officer on call 24 hours every day to provide expert advice. The Duty Officer can be contacted through the New Zealand Fire Service.
In addition, there is a national network of on-call Health Protection Officers available for performing initial radiation and contamination surveys in the event of such an incident.
Full details of the plan can be downloaded from the link below.
Radiation Incident Responders' Handbook (PDF - 372 kB).