Ireland has held a special exercise to see how we would cope with a nuclear disaster, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has confirmed.
Mr Varadkar told the Dail on Tuesday that the desktop exercise, held late last year, was carried out to gauge our preparedness for a nuclear or radiation emergency in Europe. He was answering a question from Independent TD Cathal Berry – who said he was worried that the Russian invasion of Ukraine could lead to a leak at a nuclear plant.
The Kildare South TD said he feared fighting could soon erupt at the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant. That is in Russian-occupied Ukraine – but there are fears it will become a battleground in an expected Ukrainian counteroffensive.
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Fears of it being damaged are so high that a United Nations watchdog said the situation at the plant was very dangerous and very unstable. The Taoiseach told Deputy Berry – himself a former senior officer in the Army Ranger Wing – that Irish security officials believed the threat of a nuclear or radiation emergency in Europe was highly unlikely, but they were making contingency plans.
And that, he said, included holding an exercise last September, led by the Environmental Protection Agency. It’s understood senior gardai and military officers were also involved in the exercise - which tested our ability to protect the State and people in any disaster, similar to the Chernobyl emergency in 1987 when that Ukraine plant exploded and sent radioactive particles all over large chunks of Europe.
Sources told us that the organisers created a scenario of a nuclear disaster somewhere in Europe and the participants had to find a way of protecting Ireland. It’s understood they were given around an hour to react to a crisis – such as a cloud of nuclear fallout heading towards a certain part of Ireland.
They were given the hour to come up with a response plan – including what they had to prioritise. Mr Varadkar told Deputy Berry that the state had to prepare for the worst.
He said: “I want to reassure the public and the House that we believe it is highly unlikely and even if it does happen, it is unlikely to have serious consequences for us. We have made contingency plans for it.
“In fact a training exercise was held in September to test the nation's response to a nuclear emergency. It took place in the National Emergency Co-ordination Centre, not too far from here, where we practised the systems and procedures outlined in the national plan for nuclear and radiological emergency exposures, to ensure that the Government and State agencies are prepared to manage the response effectively to a range of potential scenarios.”
The Taoiseach also said the state had an emergency plan to deal with any nuclear disaster in Europe. He said: “It sets out the trigger points for the plan to be invoked. It includes notifications to Irish authorities of nuclear or radiological emergencies abroad.
“While this event is highly improbable, the Government is aware of the impact that it could have on Irish society, businesses and the economy. It is a statutory requirement that nuclear emergency exercises are organised by the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA.
“The previous such exercise, prior to the one in September, happened in 2017. Such exercises are part of regular and prudent Government planning for national emergencies and follow on from exercises also held a few months ago to test a hypothetical response to a disruption in our energy supplies.”
Deputy Berry said that he welcomed the holding of the exercise. He said: “The risk is low, but sensible people make prudent preparations for low probability/high impact scenarios.”
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