Figures from the Norwegian Coastal Administration show that traffic by nuclear-powered ships along the Norwegian coast is steadily increasing. More extensive freight transport, tourist traffic and military activity in the volatile north have made it even more important to exercise preparedness for and respond to serious accidents involving radioactive emissions.

Exercise REIHN Arctic (Exercise Arctic Radiation in the High North) is Norway’s largest nuclear incident exercise. More than 300 participants from seven European countries have participated in this exercise. In addition, observers from 31 countries have closely followed the exercise. The field exercises were carried out from 9 – 11 May.

Practicing cooperation between relevant actors and countries

The main objective of this exercise is to train cooperation between relevant actors from Norway and other European countries. Incident response involves sea rescue drills, evacuation and radioactivity measurements.

The scenario of the incident is that of an explosion on a nuclear-powered passenger ship in northern Norway that destroys the reactor and injures some of the crew. The extent of the damage required the assistance of local, regional, national and international resources to overcome the crisis. The system for notifying other countries has therefore been put to the test, and Norway has requested assistance through the EU emergency response coordinating center (ERCC) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Photo: Photographer Raymond Engmark

Collaboration across agencies and across national borders

The exercise is a collaboration between the Directorate of Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (DSA), the Directorate of Safety and Emergency Preparedness (DSB), the Central Rescue Center in Northern Norway and the Coastal Administration. REIHN arctic is partially funded by the EU.

The Norwegian Coastal Administration has played a leading role in the exercise

– Coast Guard monitoring is important to prevent accidents in marine and coastal areas. The Norwegian Coastal Administration captures and disseminates warnings about risky traffic, such as radioactive cargo or nuclear powered vessels, and can thus predict any hazardous situations. That way, action can be taken earlier, and accidents can be avoided, said Hans-Petter Mortensholm, director of environmental preparedness at the Norwegian Coastal Administration.

The probability of an accident with a reactor-powered ship passing by our shores is low, but we cannot rule it out.

– We fully rely on the ability to cooperate with national and international actors, should such an incident occur. It was therefore very instructive and useful to participate in an exercise and observe what other institutions would do in such a situation, said Mortensholm.

The Norwegian Coastal Administration is part of the crisis committee for nuclear preparedness and has played a leading role in implementing the Arctic REIHN.

We have led work on two partial exercises, as well as communications and press work. Many Coast Guard employees also took part in the Command Post (CPX) drills.

LN-KYV, drones and BarentsWatch are used by several actors

Some of the actors involved made use of the BarentsWatch tool “Tracking and interaction” during rehearsals in Bodø. This system provides an overview of the situation to those involved and is used to maintain regular communications during rescue and evacuation operations.

Coast Guard LN-KYV reconnaissance aircraft were also used in the exercise, and the Coast Guard used the drone with us as a tool to get an overview of the situation.

Photo: Photographer Raymond Engmark

The Arctic REIHN consists of five sub-workouts

REIHN’s Arctic exercise consists of four other sub-exercise, in addition to the May 9 – 11 field exercise. The final partial exercise on health-related follow-up, long-term food production and suspension and adaptation of measures, will be conducted on 24 and 25 May.

ALARMEX is a notification exercise taking place on Thursday April 27th, where notifications for this type of incident will be tested. This is a notification from the victim via coastal radio, inter alia, to the Norwegian Coastal Administration. Notifications from the Coastal Agency to other agencies and internal notifications at the Coastal Agency will be the main focus.

Table top workout where, among others, the Directorate of Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (DSA), the Crisis Committee for Nuclear Preparedness, and the Coastal Administration are the main actors. The topic is how to deal with ships with problematic nuclear propulsion and eventually release radioactive material. Participants from Sweden and Denmark also attended this exercise, as well as observers from several ministries, the European Union, Great Britain and others.

Command Post Exercise held on May 3 and 4. The Norwegian Coastal Agency is responsible for planning this part of the exercise along with many other agencies. 22 agencies and 8 ministries participated. The Norwegian Coastal Administration examines internal interaction, but also cooperation with other actors and how to keep the ministry updated on the situation.

The Arctic REIHN exercise was important for the Norwegian Coastal Administration to identify how this type of incident should be handled.

– Through planning and implementation, we have gained a lot of useful experience that we will use, among other things, to improve our emergency planning, says Mortensholm.

Photo: Photographer Raymond Engmark

Photo: Photographer Raymond Engmark

Photo: Photographer Raymond Engmark