ECURIE
The system of the European Community for the exchange of information in radiological emergencies , short ECURIE ( English European Community Urgent Radiological Information Exchange ) is a system of the European Union for the exchange of information in case of nuclear engineering emergency .
The system was decided and put into operation in 1986/87 as a direct response to the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant . In addition to the member states of the European Union, Switzerland also takes part in the information system.
If a participating state decides to take comprehensive measures to protect the population in the event of a nuclear emergency, it is obliged under this system to inform the Commission and the Member States that are or could be affected and provide them with information.
Information must be given about the type, time, location of the event (s) as well as the affected facility (e.g. nuclear power plants ) or activity, the cause and planned or already initiated protective measures.
After receiving this information, the Member States must inform the Commission of the measures taken or planned and the recommendations made and - at appropriate intervals - of the radioactivity levels measured in food, feed, drinking water and the environment . The Commission forwards this information and the information it receives from third countries to the competent authorities of the other Member States.
The information from the ECURIE system can be used without restriction, unless it is designated as confidential by the Member State that provided the information.
Activation is also independent of bilateral information treaties, which often only neighboring countries conclude with one another.
Activations
The first activation took place after an incident in the cooling system of the Slovenian nuclear power plant Krško on June 4, 2008.
Four days after an incident in a Belgian nuclear research institute in Fleurus , a pan-European alarm (level three on the seven-part international evaluation scale for nuclear incidents ) was triggered on the night of 28-29 August 2008 . The alarm was issued at 00:10 after about 45 GBq iodine ( 131 I) had been released into the environment via the exhaust air system.
See also
- RAPEX - Rapid Exchange of Information System
- List of accidents in nuclear facilities (INES levels 4 to 7)
