TNAG-1776-FCO40-2530-Daya-Bay-nuclear-power-station-project-safety-concerns-in-Ho-1988 — Page 192

stationery, a radiation and a contamination monitor, and even a large notice reading 'Press Briefing Centre', to be placed outside the building, may prove to be useful.

Briefing Material

Experience has shown that many of the journalists who would arrive at the Press Briefing Centre following a nuclear incident may require briefing on nuclear matters. It is therefore important to provide some basic handouts which explain, inter alia, how a nuclear reactor operates, what is radioactivity, what is 'radiation', what is 'natural radiation', what units such as 'sievert' or 'becquerel' mean. If, as is likely, the results of environmental surveys are presented to the media then it is important that the normal, pre-accident, levels are well known and are available for the media. The use of this information should put the results of the post-accident environmental surveys into perspective.

Photographs, diagrams and basic data on the Daya Bay reactors are likely to be in great demand and should, where possible, be provided.

Staffing

The staffing of the Press Briefing Centre must clearly reflect the level of the incident, and hence the level of media interest. However, for any incident a number of posts can be identified. The Centre should be headed by a person who has a good technical knowledge of radiological matters as well as experience of public relations. This person should have the knowledge and expertise to answer most of the enquiries from the media. He or she should also have the authority to give interviews to the media.

Someone should be available within the Press Briefing Centre to give briefings on basic radiological matters to supplement the background briefing material.

The Press Briefing Centre will also require a number of secretarial and administrative staff to deal with routine

matters.

Operation of the Press Briefing Centre

Consideration should be given to how the Press Briefing Centre will actually function. It must:

provide background information on the reactor and on radiological matters;

(i)

(ii)

give situation reports;

(iii) arrange press conferences;

(iv)

answer specific press enquiries.

It may be useful to prepare a pro forma press statement. A suggested draft pro forma is given in Appendix VI. The use of such standard situation reports/press statements is likely to aid consistent reporting.

There are likely to be a number of requests from the media for interviews with the emergency organisation's key staff, for example, the CCC and the MAC Controllers. The Press Briefing Centre should, when practical, be able to arrange such interviews.

The staff at the Press Briefing Centre will undoubtedly receive a number of minor requests for information and therefore they should be capable of dealing with such enquiries.

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