MONDAY, DECEMBER 30, 1991
ARRANGING TRAINING
FOR MEMBERS то LEARN ABOUT NUCLEAR EMERGENCY
ENGINEERING, PLANT SAFETY FEATURES PREPAREDNESS; AND
AND
STUDYING THE OFF-SITE EMERGENCY PLANS PROPOSED FOR THE DAYA BAY PLANT AND COMPARING THEM WITH INTERNATIONAL PRACTICE,
ON THE TRAINING SIDE, MR KWOK SAID ONE OF THE ENGINEERS FROM HIS DEPARTMENT HAD JUST RETURNED FROM A TRAINING ATTACHMENT AT THE SALEM AND HOPE CREEK NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS IN NEW JERSEY IN THE UNITED STATES WHERE HE WAS GIVEN BASIC TRAINING ON PLANT OPERATION, PROTECTION AND SAFETY FEATURES, AND ACCIDENT REPORTING PROCEDURES BETWEEN UTILITIES AND GOVERNMENT AGENCIES.
THE ENGINEER ALSO PARTICIPATED IN THE TRAINING DRILLS AND DRESS REHEARSALS THAT WERE CONDUCTED REGULARLY BY PLANT OPERATING STAFF ΤΟ PREPARE THEMSELVES FOR EMERGENCY SITUATIONS.
OF
ΤΟ
WHILE IN THE U.S., HE ALSO SPENT SOME TIME AT THE ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF NUCLEAR SAFETY TO FIND OUT MORE ABOUT THE TYPE INFORMATION AND PLANT DATA WHICH THE PLANT OPERATORS ARE REQUIRED PROVIDE TO THE AUTHORITY.
THESE INCLUDED HOW SUCH DATA ARE PROCESSED FOR THE PREDICTION OF PLANT SAFETY CONDITIONS IN AN ACCIDENT SCENARIO, AND THE FUNCTIONS OF AN INTEGRATED COMPUTER-BASED REMOTE MONITORING SYSTEM IN DEALING
WITH NUCLEAR SAFETY.
WHILE NOTING THAT HIS DEPARTMENT WOULD CONTINUE ΤΟ PROVIDE STAFF WITH SUCH TRAINING, MR KWOK CONCEDED THAT THE DEPARTMENT WAS UNLIKELY TO BE ABLE TO BUILD UP SUFFICIENT ENGINEERING CAPABILITY AND EXPERTISE TO CARRY OUT IN-DEPTH AND DETAIL ANALYSIS OF AN NUCLEAR INCIDENTS OCCURRING IN THE DAYA BAY PLANT.
IN THIS RESPECT, HE SAID HIS DEPARTMENT WOULD REQUIRE A BACKUP SUPPORT FOR AN AUTHORITATIVE ASSESSMENT OF PLANT INCIDENTS AND CURRENTLY, WAS DISCUSSING WITH THE INTERNATIONAL ATOMIC ENERGY AGENCY (IAEA) AND AN OVERSEAS CONSULTANT FOR PROVIDING SUCH BACKUP SUPPORT.
HE ALSO NOTED THAT IN ORDER FOR HIS DEPARTMENT TO BE ABLE TO ADVISE THE GOVERNMENT ON WHAT WAS HAPPENING IN THE 'DAYA BAY PLANT DURING AN INCIDENT, IT WAS NECESSARY TO OBTAIN INFORMATION ABOUT THE PLANT STATUS FROM THE PLANT OPERATOR OR THE CHINESE EMERGENCY UNIT.
HE EXPLAINED THAT SUCH INFORMATION, IF MADE AVAILABLE ΤΟ THE EMSD, COULD THEN BE USED TO VERIFY THE PLANT OPERATOR'S OWN ASSESSMENT OF THE INCIDENT, SO THAT THE HONG KONG PUBLIC COULD BE ASSURED OF SITUATION.
THE
"BY SO DOING, THE HONG KONG GOVERNMENT WILL BE ABLE TO DISPEL ANY UNFOUNDED RUMOURS ABOUT THE PLANT.
/"HAVING ACCESS