Romanian Gendarmerie conducting extensive training exercise in nuclear emergency interventions

The General Inspectorate of the Romanian Gendarmerie started on Monday, at the National Cryogenic and Isotopic Technology Research and Development Institute (ICSI) of Ramnic, Valcea County, a wide-encompassing exercise training gendarmes and other departments of the Interior Ministry in emergency interventions at nuclear facilities.

Head of the of the Institutional Guard and Security Department of the Romanian Gendarmerie Mihai Cristian said that currently there is no real danger at the Cryogenics Institute at Ramnic, as the exercise is designed only to test whether public organisations are prepared for such situations, to get a clear picture in that sense, and the scenario of this exercise will remain secret.

"We believe that this way we make this activity more efficient and we manage to make better use of the human resources. We try to develop and to implement technical systems and to develop the supervision area more efficiently as much as possible. (...) We cannot say more about the scenario right now, because it would mean doing an exercise like many others, in which hardly had we issued an order, that all were prepared in the corner of the building. We are trying to see how this goes, even if it will be harder, even if we will see certain delays or perhaps reactions expected or unexpected by those who will receive the 'injection', as we call it. The general framework is created based on the obligations and duties of each organisation. Each organisation knows what to do, but it does not know the case, which does not prevent him from acting as usual in real settings," said Mihai.

This is the first such exercise to take place at a nuclear facility in Romania. It is conducted October 8 and 9, attended by gendarmes, police officers, intelligence officers, MAI medical staff, as well as firefighters. Among the crisis situations that will be simulated are protests of environmental protection activists and organisations, armed attack, as well as a road accident during nuclear transportation.