Emergency Response Facilities

The Requirements for Design require (Ref. [1], para. 6.87) that an on-site emergency control centre, separated from the plant control room, be provided to serve as a meeting place for the emergency staff who will operate from there in the event of 

In addition to local arrangements for managing an accident, some Member States have found it effective to have an emergency support centre remote from the site to permit the co-ordination of advice from experts. Similarly, suitable information and communication systems should be provided for such a facility. 

Further information on emergency response facilities can be found in Refs [4, 13]. 

If equipment important to safety can be controlled both from the control room and from locations outside the control room, the actual source of control should be automatically indicated by visual means (annunciators, testable indicator lights, hand switch positions) in each control location. 

The control room should include all the controls necessary to deal with those accident conditions for which  

Information should be provided about the particular capability of the plant to provide  

Descriptions of emergency response facilities should include details of any equipment, communications and other arrangements necessary to support the specific facilities assigned functions. The habitability of these facilities and the provisions to protect workers during accidents should also be described and justified. 

Capability for the assessment of accident progression, radioactive releases and the consequences of accidents 

This section should provide a demonstration that the operator will have 

It should be demonstrated that the response of the necessary instrumentation or systems at the plant under abnormal conditions is adequate to ensure the performance of the required safety functions. (A reference to other chapters of the SAR justifying the equipment qualification required may also be acceptable.) 

---

Ensure that safety controls are in place before approving new development in hazardous areas, and if not (e.g., inadequate roads, communication channels, emergency response facilities), then perhaps make developers pay for them. Consider requiring developers to provide an analysis of the impact of new development on the safety of the community. Hire outside consultants to evaluate these impact analyses if such expertise is not available locally. 

NUREG-0696, "Functional Criteria for Emergency Response Facilities", U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, February 1981. 

Following on from Recommendation 11, operators of Buncefield-type sites should evaluate the siting and/or suitable protection of emergency response facilities such as firefighting pumps, lagoons or manual emergency switches. ... 

Siting and protection of emergency response facilities, paragraph 128... 

Appendix 6 provides guidance on siting emergency response facilities. 

Recent international practice has been to design NPPs with a room where current plant data and status are compiled for display to enable technical experts to support the operators during the management of an event or accident. This room is separate from the control room. Technical support centre is a part of the emergency response facilities. Most WWER plants do not have technical support centres. 

NUREG-0696, "Functional criteria for emergency response facilities."... 

FIG. 77. Objective tree for Level 4 of defence in depth (AM, accident management). Safety principles emergency plans (333), emergency response facilities (336). 

Post-installed anchor connections may be deserving of special attention if they a) transfer loads as part of the structural load path of a building or other structure, b) are used in a building or structure that has been assigned a high importance classification (for example, emergency response facilities), or c) should be designed with post-installed anchor systems that are more robust. Post-installed anchor bolts that tend to be more robust include most undercut anchor systems, some heavy-duty expansion anchors, and many adhesive anchor systems. 

The EPIPs address performing habitability surveys in the CCR and OSC emergency response facilities, but performing habitability surveys in the Security Tactical Operations Center or other security personnel locations is not specifically addressed. This is an open item. EPIP 6Q7-I0I, "Activation and Operation of the OSC," indicates that the Protective Force Supervisor is to be kept appraised of radiological conditions in the area and that he/she would inform the HP Coordinator if Security personnel could not be removed from impacted areas. HP could then dispatch personnel to the location(s) to perform monitoring and exposure control briefings. 

---