The Moroccan Agency for Nuclear and Radiological Safety and Security (AMSSNuR) is organizing from March 29 to April 2, 2021, with the support of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), a national workshop on the review of the draft National Nuclear or Radiological Emergency Response Plan (PNI-SUNR).

All national stakeholders concerned with nuclear and radiological emergencies are taking part in this workshop, including the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, African Cooperation and Moroccans Abroad, the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Environment, the Ministry of Health and the National Energy Center, of Nuclear Science and Technology (CNESTEN). Security agencies are also participating in this workshop, namely the Royal Armed Forces (FAR), the Royal Gendarmerie, the Civil Protection and the General Directorate of National Security (DGSN).

Dr. Khammar Mrabit, CEO of AMSSNuR, highlighted the particular importance of this workshop, which is part of the implementation of the orientations of the AMSSNuR Board of Directors, leading it to provide the necessary support and assist the State in the development of the National Nuclear or Radiological Emergency Response Plan (PNI-SUNR). This plan describes the responsibilities of the stakeholders, the organization and coordination of emergency management, and the communication and information system, in accordance with the legislative and regulatory provisions in force.

This workshop focuses on the examination of the draft plan in the light of the General Safety Requirements No. GSR Part 7 of the IAEA, which will constitute, as soon as it is published, both a reference document for preparing to manage a nuclear or radiological accident and a guide to support decision-making in emergency situations. This document will focus in particular on the reduction of the risk by the operator and on contingency plans to prevent and limit the consequences of an accident and will serve to inform the public.

This event is an opportunity to further strengthen the provisions of the PNI-SUNR project developed on the basis of feedback from emergency intervention and tabletop exercises carried out over decades to respond to the different types of incidents or accidents that may occur in a nuclear installation, during the transport of radioactive substances, in the exercise of a nuclear activity for medical, research or industrial purposes, in the event of deliberate or involuntary release of radioactive substances into the environment or on the occasion of the discovery of orphan radioactive sources.

As a reminder, AMSSNuR has proceeded, as part of the implementation of its 2017-2021 action plan, to the development of two draft regulatory texts on the preparation and conduct of interventions in the event of nuclear or radiological emergencies and on the PNI-SUNR.