Emergency exercise conducted at Kalpakkam Department of Atomic Energy Centre

An off-site emergency exercise in the Integrated Command, Control, and Response (ICCR) mode was conducted at the Kalpakkam Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) Centre recently. The exercise was conducted by the District Disaster Management Agency (DDMA) under Chengalpattu Collector M. Veerappan, who is also the Incident Commander, in the emergency planning zone surrounding the Kalpakkam site. The initiating event took place at the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR). Technical inputs were provided by the Kalpakkam Emergency Committee, headed by S.B. Selvakumaran, Station Director, Madras Atomic Power Station, who is also the Site Emergency Director, and Allu Ananth, Station Director, PFBR. The objective of the exercise was to assess the preparedness of the district administration and the DAE Site Management to handle emergencies. The Collector noted that the exercise has strengthened the capabilities of DDMA in handling nuclear emergencies, with more focus on command and control activities.