The City of Cape Town participated in the National Nuclear Regulator’s (NNR) nuclear safety emergency exercise on Friday.
The objective of the exercise was to test the effectiveness of the Radiological Release Hazard Disaster Risk Management Plan.
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The NNR uses the exercise to evaluate and assess the integration and response arrangements of the various response role players to a simulated emergency.
Disaster Management welcomed this first full-scale exercise opportunity after the lockdown. Although the pandemic restrictions halted similar exercises, the City’s Disaster Risk Management Centre continued with these in desktop format.
“This exercise tests our preparedness to deal with and guide us on improving our response to a nuclear incident,” said the City’s Mayoral Committee Member for Safety and Security, JP Smith. “ All our departments participate to ensure that everyone is up to date on contingency plans and limit potential losses.”
“The importance of being ready, organized and fully equipped to deal with such an incident cannot be understated.”
“DRM takes the lead from the City’s side on an exercise that takes months of planning and preparation.”
“In the end it is our residents who will reap the benefit as they go about their day in safety, because of the hard work done behind the scenes.”
The NNR exercises take place every two years to ensure public safety arrangements are in place in the case of a nuclear emergency and includes the relevant role players from, among others, the City, Western Cape Government, National Government and Eskom.
The exercise scenario examined the different stages of an emergency, including evacuation plans, mass care centers, transport arrangements, decontamination, controlling contaminated foodstuffs, the distribution of potassium iodate tablets, logistics and operations centers.
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