During any emergency, exchange of information and coordination are vital to ensure an efficient response. While, the IAEA has developed recommendations to facilitate harmonization of national responses in case of a nuclear or radiological emergency, the Joint Radiation Emergency Management Plan (JPLAN), facilitates the coordinated response of relevant international organizations. The JPLAN, introduced in 2000, is an operational document published as part of the IAEA Emergency Preparedness and Response series.
The Inter-Agency Committee on Radiological and Nuclear Emergencies (IACRNE) consists of eighteen international intergovernmental organizations that have developed and co-sponsored the 2017 edition of the JPLAN. The JPLAN describes a common understanding of how each organization is responding to such emergencies and their preparedness arrangements. The IAEA provides the secretariat for the IACRNE and coordinates the development and maintenance of the JPLAN.
This seventh edition of the JPLAN replaces that from 2013 and incorporates the following changes:
- The United Nations Development Programme as a new co-sponsoring organization;
- The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies as a corresponding organization;
- Further clarifications of roles and responsibilities of the participating organizations.
Additionally, a new type of Convention Exercise, namely ‘ConvEx-2f’, was introduced. ConvEx exercises are conducted by the IAEA Incident and Emergency Centre to evaluate and further improve the national and international elements of emergency preparedness and response. The new ‘ConvEx-2f’ will test IACRNE response procedures in general, and, in particular, the actions related to public communication during a nuclear or radiological emergency.
