EMERGENCY PLANNING IN CASE OF CBRN EVENTS: AN INNOVATIVE METHODOLOGY TO IMPROVE THE SAFETY KNOWLEDGE OF ADVISORS AND FIRST RESPONDERS BY A MULTIDISCIPLINARY TABLE TOP EXERCISE.

ABSTRACT Nowadays Chemical-Biological-Radiological-Nuclear (CRBN) risks are one of the main safety concern. The radiological disasters of Fukushima and Chernobyl, the chemical events of Seveso or the release of Sarin in the Tokio Subway,and the biological emergencies such as the H1N1 flue represent few examples of a dreadful evidence: : CBRNe risks are a real and global threat around us. A CBRNe event can be either of an intentional and un-intentional nature and it is important to have highly specialized advisors that can support decision makers and first responders to face this threat. The University of Rome Tor Vergata, in collaboration with the most important Italian and International Bodies that work in the field of CBRN safety and security and supported by NATO and OPCW, organized two International Master Courses in Protection against CBRN events. In this context, a Table Top Exercise (TTX) was organized, in collaboration with the Ministry of Interior and Ministry of Defence, taking into account that, in each country, the system response to CBRNe events strongly depends also on law and procedures, that enforce the advisors and first responders to rely with different skills and roles in function of the administration of origin. The organized TTX was aimed to test the level preparation of the Master students and experts working in Italy in the field of CBRN events and to test the emergency planning preparation. In particular, a radiological release was simulated in a Harbour facility in Urban Area. The students were divided in multidisciplinary groups with heterogeneous competences. Each group was supported by CBRNì experts and was stressed by the injects from a Command and Operative Centre. Responsiveness to the injects and to the stress together with the ability to organize and manage safety and security operations, but also to interpret each role in the team according to according to national laws, were evaluated for each group. The scenario, the logistic organization, on-going adjustments during the exercise and the outcomes will be presented and analyzed by the authors in this paper. PRELIMINARY INDEX 1. Abstract 2. Introduction 3. Table Top Exercise (TTX) 3.1 What is a TTX 3.2 How the TTX is organized 3.3 Scenario and injects 3.4 Organizational and technical solutions 4. Dat

Climatic features of the Mediterranean Sea detected by the analysis of the longwave radiative bulk formulae

Some important climatic features of the Mediterranean Sea stand out from an analysis of the systematic discrepancies between direct measurements of longwave radiation budget and predictions obtained by the most widely used bulk formulae. In particular, under clear-sky conditions the results show that the surface values of both air temperature and humidity over the Mediterranean Sea are larger than those expected over an open ocean with the same amount of net longwave radiation. Furthermore, the twofold climatic regime of the Mediterranean region strongly affects the downwelling clear-sky radiation. This study suggests that a single bulk formula with constant numerical coefficients is unable to reproduce the fluxes at the surface for all the seasons.Key words: Meteorology and Atmospheric dynamics (radiative processes) – Oceanography: general (marginal and semienclosed seas; marine meteorology

Acquisizione dati meteo-disdrometrici. Parte 1: Installazione di una stazione meteorologica automatica

SIGLEITItal

Acquisizione dati meteo-disdrometrici. Parte 1: Installazione di una stazione meteorologica automatica

SIGLEITItal

La colonizzazione biologica delle superfici murarie della costa tirrenica in relazione ai principali parametri microclimatici

SIGLEITItal

Two realistic scenarios of intentional release of radionuclides (Cs-137, Sr-90) - the use of the HotSpot code to forecast contamination extent

There are several types of events that could result in dispersion of radioactive substances in the environment. The dispersion can be a consequence of a natural or intentional event. In case of radiological release the estimation of the contaminated area is very important to properly manage the rescue operations and decontamination by evaluating the impact on the population and environment. The extent of the contamination and impact on the environment and people mainly depends on the specific event and the radionuclide involved. Models and computational codes have been developed and hypothetical scenarios have been formulated for establishing priority of countermeasures and protective actions, determining generic operational guidelines and assessment of risks for population exposure. The aim of the present study is to illustrate the effects of two different cases of intentional release. Due to the lack of available real data, this is carried out through simulation of different scenarios by using a computer code named HotSpot; in fact literature data referring to real events of this kind are classified and cannot be disseminated. The first case consists in the release of Cs-137 from stacks of cement production industry, the second in the release of Strontium 90 from the explosion of a dirty bomb. The Total Effective Dose Equivalent (TEDE), which includes external and internal contributions for the whole absorbed dose, and the contaminant Ground Deposition have been calculated for various atmospheric stability Pasquill categories [1], several distributions of contaminant particle size, different explosive quantity (dirty bomb case). Results have been analyzed and presented here. They indicate that atmospheric dispersion of a relatively small amount of Cs-137 has the potential to contaminate a relatively large area, while the explosion of a dirty bomb containing a large amount of a strontium 90, does not represent a problem in terms of direct contamination. In both cases the extent of contamination (area and activity) mainly depends on: particle size; the height of release and local weather conditions

Two realistic scenarios of intentional release of Radionuclides (Cs-137,Sr-90).The use of the Hot Spot Code to forecast contamination extent.

There are several types of events that could result in dispersion of radioactive substances in the environment. These include both intentional and unintentional events. In case of radiological release the estimation of the area contaminated is a very important point in order to manage the operation needed to decontaminate, the impact on the population and environment and the cost of the decontamination. The extent of the contamination and impact on the environment and people mainly depends on the specific event and the radionuclide involved. In recent years, the concern for protection of urban populations against terrorist attacks involving radiological substances has attracted increasing attention. Models and computational codes have been developed and hypothetical scenarios have been formulated for establishing priority of countermeasures and protective actions, determining of generic operational guidelines, and assessment of risks for population exposure. The aim of the present study is to illustrate the resultant effects of two different cases of intentional release. The first case consists in the release of Cs-137 from stacks of cement production industry, the second in the release of Strontium 90 from the explosion of a dirty bomb. This is carried out through simulation of different scenarios using a computer code named HotSpot. The Total Effective Dose Equivalent (TEDE), which includes external and internal contributions for the whole absorbed dose, and the contaminant Ground Deposition have been calculated for various atmospheric stability Pasquill categories [1], several distributions of contaminant particle size, different explosive quantity (dirty bomb case).The results have been analyzed and presented here. They indicate that atmospheric dispersion of a relatively small amount of Cs-137 has the potential to contaminate a relatively large area, similarly the explosion of a dirty bomb containing a large amount of a strontium 90, does not represent a problem in terms of direct contamination. In both cases the extent of contamination (area and activity) mainly depending on particle size, the height of release, and local weather conditions. Key-Words:- Dispersion Models, Radionuclides, Atmospheric Release, Cesium 137, HotSpot code 1 Introduction Incidents involving commercial radioactive sources that have fallen out of control and entered into the public domain have been reported over the years. In some cases, sources entering into scrap processing facilities hav