China's Nuclear Emergency Preparedness

III. All-round Promotion of Nuclear Emergency Preparedness

China lays great store by the planning, and legislative/institutional/regulatory systems (known in Chinese as "One Planning plus Three Systems") associated with nuclear emergency preparedness, and ensures the establishment and full functioning of a national nuclear emergency management system through the safeguards of legislation, institution and regulations.

Strengthening national nuclear emergency planning system building. The National Nuclear Emergency Plan is an action program pre-set by the central government to cope with nuclear accident scenarios. The National Nuclear Emergency Plan lays down a whole set of regulations on the organizational system, command and coordination mechanism, emergency response classification, post-accident restoration actions, and emergency preparation and safeguard measures related to nuclear emergency preparation and response actions. In line with the requirements of the National Nuclear Emergency Plan, governments at all levels and nuclear installation operators must draw up nuclear emergency plans fully in keeping with the National Nuclear Emergency Plan, so as to form a nationwide system of nuclear emergency planning.

Strengthening nuclear emergency legislative system building. China has put in place its own nuclear emergency legal framework, comprising state laws, administrative regulations, departmental rules, national and industrial standards, and management guidelines. As early as August 1993 China put into effect the Regulations on Emergency Management of Nuclear Accidents at Nuclear Power Plants. Since the beginning of this century China has, in succession, enacted the Law of the People's Republic of China on Prevention and Control of Radioactive Pollution and Emergency Response Law of the People's Republic of China, providing regulations and requirements from the legal perspective on nuclear emergency preparedness. In July 2015 the newly revised State Security Law of the People's Republic of China was promulgated, further reinforcing the nuclear accident emergency system and emergency response capacity building to prevent, control and eliminate damage to the life and health of the general public and ecological environment. In keeping with the foregoing laws and regulations, relevant departments of the government have worked out and put into effect their respective regulations and management guidelines, and relevant institutions and nuclear-related industries have drawn up applicable technical standards. The military also has drawn up relevant regulations, and established systems governing emergency rescue actions associated with nuclear emergency preparedness. Currently efforts are being made to push forward the legislative process associated with the Atomic Energy Law and Nuclear Safety Law.

Strengthening nuclear emergency management system building. China implements a nuclear emergency management system featuring unified leadership at the national level, overall coordination, assignment of responsibilities to different levels and emphasis on localized administration. The nuclear emergency management is led and placed under the responsibility of the department designated by the central government. The governments of the province (autonomous region or centrally administered municipality) wherein nuclear installations are located are responsible for nuclear emergency management within their respective jurisdictions. The operator of the relevant nuclear installation and its senior competent authority (unit) shall be responsible for on-site emergency management. Wherever necessary, the central government will lead, organize and coordinate nuclear emergency management at the national level.

Strengthening nuclear emergency mechanism building. China implements a nuclear emergency organization and coordination mechanism featuring leadership by one department and participation by multiple departments. At the national level, a National Nuclear Accident Emergency Coordination Committee has been set up comprising relevant governmental and military departments with the following main responsibilities: implementing state nuclear emergency work guidelines, drawing up national policies for nuclear emergency management, uniformly coordinating emergency activities at the national level, and deciding, organizing and commanding emergency assistance response actions. A National Nuclear Emergency Office has also been set up to undertake the routine work of the National Nuclear Accident Emergency Coordination Committee. At the provincial (regional and municipal) levels, nuclear emergency coordination bodies have been established, and operators of nuclear installations have set up their respective nuclear emergency bodies. At the national and provincial (regional and municipal) levels and within the operators of the nuclear installations, committees of experts or the support organizations thereof have been established to provide advice and suggestions on nuclear emergency preparedness and response.

IV. Building and Maintenance of Nuclear Emergency Capabilities

Sticking to the guidelines of versatile compatibility, resource integration, interdisciplinary support, and integration of military and civilian capabilities, China builds and maintains national nuclear emergency capabilities commensurate with the safe and efficient development of nuclear energy, and forms a fully-fledged national system of nuclear emergency response capabilities.

At the national level, a unified nuclear emergency response capabilities system is in place to coordinate military and local systems whereby three distinct tiers of capabilities are maintained, viz. national, provincial and nuclear installation operator levels, with a view to pushing forward with the building of various capabilities related to nuclear emergency response.

Building national nuclear emergency response professional technical support centers. China has built eight types of national-level nuclear emergency technical support centers, i.e., radiation monitoring, radiation prevention, aviation monitoring, medical rescue, marine radiation monitoring, meteorological monitoring and forecasting, decision-making aid, and response action, along with three national-level nuclear emergency response training bases, thereby essentially forming an integrated emergency technical support and training system featuring a full array of disciplines and functions, and effective support.

Building national-level nuclear emergency rescue forces. Through efforts over many years, China has already built a specialized nuclear emergency rescue capability system that is of a proper scale, well-coordinated and of a rational layout. To cater to the needs of layout for the construction of nuclear power stations, on the principle of regional deployment, modular set-up and disciplinary integration, over 30 national-level professional rescue teams have been formed to specifically take charge of various kinds of specialized rescue missions. The military constitutes an important part of the national-level nuclear emergency rescue force, and fulfills the mission of aiding local nuclear accident emergency response actions, and, as such, has scored brilliant achievements in building up its nuclear emergency response capabilities. To cope with possible severe nuclear accidents and on the basis of the available capabilities, China is to form a national nuclear emergency rescue team composed of over 300 people to be mainly responsible for undertaking unexpected rescue missions in serious nuclear accident scenarios and emergency treatment tasks, and stand ready to take part in international nuclear emergency rescue operations.

Building provincial-level nuclear emergency rescue forces. Nuclear emergency response forces have been established at the provincial (regional and municipal) levels in areas where nuclear power stations are sited, including nuclear emergency command centers, emergency radiation monitoring networks, medical treatment networks, meteorological monitoring networks, decontamination points, evacuation roads and shelters for evacuees, along with specialized technical support and rescue task forces, thereby basically meeting the nuclear emergency preparedness and response needs of the involved regions. Each provincial (regional and municipal) nuclear emergency command center is connected with the nuclear installation(s) within its jurisdiction.

Building a nuclear emergency response force on the part of the operators of nuclear installations. In accordance with national requirements and following international standards, operators of nuclear installations in China have set up their own nuclear emergency response facilities and forces, including emergency command centers, emergency communication facilities, and emergency monitoring and consequence evaluation facilities. In addition, emergency facilities, equipment and instrumentation, such as emergency power supply, are in place. On-site rescue teams specializing in radiation monitoring, accident control, decontamination and cleansing have been established. Corporations controlling operators of the respective nuclear installations have set up a mutual support collaborative mechanism to form nuclear emergency response resource reserve and deployment assistance capabilities, thereby ensuring mutually complementary support and coordination.

In accordance with the principle of versatile compatibility and based on their respective duties and responsibilities, government departments at different levels in China have established and reinforced their respective capability systems to serve and safeguard nuclear emergency response activities commensurate with the tasks established under the National Nuclear Emergency Plan.

In accordance with the nuclear emergency response plans worked out by the national and provincial (regional and municipal) authorities and the operators of nuclear installations and within the institutional framework of the national nuclear emergency response system, various levels and categories of nuclear emergency response forces ensure unified deployment and interactive mobilization to jointly undertake tasks associated with nuclear accident emergency situations.

V. Main Measures to Cope with Nuclear Accidents

By referring the advanced international standards and drawing on worldwide mature experience, China has defined working measures to control, mitigate and cope with nuclear accidents commensurate with its national conditions and actual situation of nuclear energy development.

Implementing the defense-in-depth concept. Five lines of defense have been set up under which the nuclear emergency preparedness threshold is moved ahead and multiple barriers are installed to strengthen nuclear safety, prevent accidents and mitigate the consequences of an accident. The five lines of defense are: First, the quality of design, manufacturing, construction and operation shall be assured to prevent deviation from normal operation; second, operation procedures and operation technical specifications shall be rigorously followed and observed to ensure that each nuclear generating unit is operated within the defined safety range, any deviations therefrom are detected and corrected in a timely manner, and any abnormal operation is controlled to prevent it from evolving into an accident; third, in case a deviation fails to be corrected in a timely manner, plant safety and protection systems shall be automatically activated upon occurrence of an accident within the design datum, and emergency operations shall be organized to prevent the situation deteriorating; fourth, in case an accident fails to be controlled effectively, accident handling procedures shall be activated with the accident management strategy enforced to ensure that the containment shall remain intact and no radioactive substances are released into the environment; and fifth, in the event of failure of the above-mentioned lines of defense, off-site emergency actions shall be immediately activated in an effort to minimize any impact from the accident on the public or the environment. Meanwhile, multiple physical barriers shall be set up to ensure that multiple lines of defense are in place to prevent and control release of radioactive substances into the environment.

Exercising a tiered response scheme. The level of a nuclear accident shall be determined in accordance with the nature and seriousness of the accident and scope of effect from radiation, based on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES) guidelines of the International Atomic Energy Agency. The nuclear emergency preparedness condition is divided into Emergency Standby, Building Emergency, On-Site Emergency and Off-Site Emergency, which respectively correspond to Level IV response, Level III response, Level II response and Level I response. The first three levels of response mainly focus on the organization and implementation of emergency actions within the site. Off-Site Emergency shall be announced with its corresponding Level I response activated upon occurrence of release or possible release of a large quantity of radioactive substances into the environment in which accident consequences have crossed boundaries of the site, with the possibility of seriously jeopardizing public health and environmental safety.

Deploying actions of response. Every level of nuclear emergency organization shall implement the following response actions in whole or in part depending upon the nature and seriousness of the accident:

- Mitigating and controlling the accident in a timely manner. A professional force, equipment and supplies shall be thrown into immediate engineering emergency measures to mitigate and control any accident in an attempt to bring the relevant nuclear installation back to a safe condition while preventing or minimizing the release of radioactive substances into the environment.

- Conducting radiation monitoring and consequence assessment. Radiation monitoring shall be conducted at the site of the accident and areas affected and doses possibly absorbed by personnel shall be measured. Observation/surveillance and forecast on meteorological, hydrological, geological and seismic impacts shall be provided on a real-time basis. The accident conditions shall be diagnosed and substances released shall be analyzed to determine the accident evolution trend, evaluate radiation consequences and define the areas affected.

- Organizing personnel to implement emergency protection actions. If radioactive isotope of iodine has already been released or may be released arising from an accident, a professional team shall organize the public within a given area to take stable iodine pills to minimize radiation exposure to the thyroid gland. The people in the affected area shall be duly organized to take emergency protection measures deemed necessary, including hiding, evacuating, seeking temporary shelter or permanently moving out in order to prevent or minimize injuries from radiation exposure. Psychological assistance shall be provided in a timely manner to minimize social anxiety and panic.

- Arranging decontamination and medical treatment. Professionals shall be dispatched to remove or minimize radioactive pollution affecting people, equipment, premises and the environment. A nuclear emergency preparedness medical rescue force shall be organized to perform medical diagnoses, case identification and medical treatment, including on-site first-aid treatment, local hospital treatment and backup professional treatment.

- Controlling access passages and ports. Zones shall be demarcated according to the areas affected and strict control shall be enforced over the passage of people, vehicles, equipment and supplies in and out of the designated passages. People, vehicles, cargo containers, goods, travelers' belongings and parcels moving in or out of the border checkpoints shall be screened for radiation detection and control.

- Strengthening market supervision and regulation. Necessities shall be subject to market supervision and regulation in a timely manner in line with the supply of market and the public psych in the areas affected. Manufacturing, processing, circulation and consumption of contaminated food and drinking water shall be banned or limited, so as to prevent or minimize the intake of radioactive substances.

- Maintaining social order. Illegal or criminal acts, such as spreading rumors to create panic, shall be dealt with rigorously. Additional makeshift police posts shall be established to reinforce security patrols in important locations such as settlement sites and storage places for rescue supplies. Security for important premises such as the site of the nuclear accident shall be enhanced, and traffic control in the surrounding areas shall be properly coordinated according to actual needs.

- Releasing accurate official information. Accurate and official information shall be duly published to the public by the central, provincial (regional or municipal) governments and operators of nuclear installations in accordance with International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) practice, and the laws and regulations of China to ensure that information with respect to nuclear accident status, effects on the public and individual protection measures shall be disclosed to the public in an open, transparent and timely manner.

- Doing well in notifying the international community and requesting for help. Notification shall be given to the international community in accordance with the Convention on Early Notification of a Nuclear Accident of the IAEA. Request for assistance shall be made to the IAEA and the world community in accordance with the Convention on Assistance in the Case of a Nuclear Accident or Radiological Emergency of the IAEA, depending upon the actual situation.

Establishing a robust system of technical standards for national nuclear emergency preparedness. A complete system of technical standards for national nuclear emergency preparedness shall be established, and it covers the standards for classification of nuclear power plant emergency planning zones, nuclear accidents and emergency status, implementation of emergency protection actions, and definition of emergency intervention principles and levels of intervention, so as to provide a primary technical guideline for the implementation of nuclear emergency preparedness and response.

Strengthening emergency on-duty system. An emergency on-duty system shall be established to ensure that each level of nuclear emergency organization stays on-duty 24 hours a day. National contact points for nuclear emergency preparedness under the national nuclear accident emergency office shall be on duty for nuclear emergency preparedness to collect information about domestic nuclear installations and keep the IAEA updated.