OSCE helps Ukrainian rescuers and border guards to practice response to radiological threats

Seventy-five representatives from Ukraine’s State Emergency Service (SESU) and State Border Guard Service had a chance to improve knowledge and practice skills needed to respond to radiation-related emergencies at a series of two three-days training sessions, organized by the OSCE Secretariat Extra-Budgetary Support Programme for Ukraine (SPU) in Kyiv on 23-28 October 2023.

During the training that included a combination of classroom sessions with practical exercises, the participants refreshed their knowledge on identification and ensuring protection against different types of radiation, ways to calculate exposure, as well as principles of radiological reconnaissance and control. The sessions aimed at raising their level of preparedness to deal with radiological emergencies happening as a result of technogenic incidents, terrorist attacks, or military action.

“Risk of radiation-related emergencies is never zero in a country with nuclear power facilities, but of course for Ukraine now they increased significantly because of the ongoing war. While we hope these risks do not materialize, it is always better for emergency responders to be prepared to any negative developments. And we hope the training we provide will strengthen their ability to do all they can to save people if needed,” - noted Pierre Baussand, the OSCE Secretariat Extra-Budgetary Support Programme Manager on this occasion. 

The trainees had a chance to practice radiological reconnaissance of different sites, checking radiation level outdoors and in buildings, as well as verifying contamination of vehicles. They also had a run-through in organizing radiation monitoring point for civilians leaving a potentially contaminated area.

The effort involved personnel from civil protection and response units of the SESU from all the regions of Ukraine; special attention was paid to exchange of experience and discussing of co-ordination with their colleagues from the State Border Guard Service. Also, as any emergency requires joint work with law enforcers, the SPU invited representatives of the EU Advisory Mission for Civilian Security Sector Reform (EUAM Ukraine), the National Police of Ukraine (NPU), and the National Guard of Ukraine (NGU) to observe the exercise. The knowledge on peculiarities of the rescue operations in the radioactive environment that the NPU and NGU colleagues received during the training sessions will foster general co-ordination of civilian protection in case of emergencies related to hazardous substances.