ISR News

April 2, 2012

DGNS – Review of Ionizing Radiation Warning Signs

ISR recently completed a review of national and international ionizing radiation warning sign legislation for the Department of National Defence - Director General of Nuclear Safety. Based on this review, ISR developed a position for harmonizing existing signage for both X-ray devices and other sources of ionizing radiation, which will be brought before the Federal Provincial Territorial Radiation Protection Committee for consideration for future implementation.

December 15, 2011

Gentilly-2 Emergency Response Exercise

ISR recently completed a full scale emergency exercise at the Hydro Quebec Gentilly-2 nuclear power plant in Bécancour, Quebec. The exercise was prepared to test the abilities of the Gentilly-2 Emergency measures plan in response to a simulated radiological release due to a loss of coolant accident (LOCA). The response of the personnel, specifically the Emergency Response Organization (ERO), was evaluated by a team of evaluators and audited by members of the CNSC. Full scale exercises like this are used to test the coordination of teams within the plant, their ability to diagnose and contain the accident, protect their personnel as well as the surrounding environment and population. This type of exercise also serves to evaluate the communication channels between the plant personnel and external support organizations.

December 8, 2011

International Chemical Counter Terrorism Exercise

ISR Europe and ISR have just completed a very successful international chemical counter terrorism table-top exercise in Den Haag, The Netherlands. The exercise was prepared for and hosted by The Netherlands Coordinator for Counter Terrorism and Security (NCTV) with significant support from the Netherlands Forensics Institute (NFI), the United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) with financial support from the European Commission and the support of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and Interpol. The exercise, which involved the participation of representatives from the security, emergency management/policy and scientific communities from 11 countries and two (2) international organizations, involved the players having to work together in order to determine the threat and prevent a coordinated chemical attack on multiple countries. The exercise involved a live forensics data collection demonstration by the NFI followed by an "investigative style" table top exercise which utilized a unique email based delivery method. Approximately 140 representatives from some 34 countries were in attendance, which included 3 groups of "active observers" that were fully engaged in the information flow and attempted to determine what was happening and what the player response should be.

This is the third in a series of international counter terrorism table-top exercises hosted by the NCTV and prepared by ISR - the first being Exercise COBALT 2009, and more recently Exercise BIOSHIELD 2010.

October 31, 2011

ISR Retained by DGNS to Perform Deployment of Radon Detectors

ISR has been retained by the Department of National Defence - Director General of Nuclear Safety to deploy Alpha Track radon detectors to occupied military installations within the province of Quebec. It is anticipated that approximately 9000 detectors will be required to complete the deployment, and that ISR will collect in access of 120,000 pieces of information during the deployment process utilizing specially designed proprietary data collection software on mobile platforms. The detectors will remain in position for a minimum of three months before being retrieved.

This project follows on the heels of the successful radon surveys of CFB Halifax, 12 Wing Shearwater, CFB Gagetown, 14 Wing Greenwood, 9 Wing Gander, 5 Wing Goose Bay and 17 Wing Winnipeg in previous years. These surveys included the deployment, retrieval and analysis of data from approximately 15,000 detectors.

October 19, 2011

Indian Summer

ISR Europe and ISR just completed a two-day national exercise in the Netherlands. The exercise involved a blackout at Nuclear Station Borssele. There were over 500 participants ranging from the local fire services to the Ministers. The first day dealt mainly with the acute phase. The second day involved field assessment, hot spot identification, the management of evacuees and the transition to the recovery phase.

July 25, 2011

Risk-Informed Decision Making

ISREurope just won a contract to develop the framework for Risk-Informed Decision Making in the Dutch nuclear regulatory organization. This project will examine progress achieved in other countries in this area as well as emerging guidance from the IAEA.

July 4, 2011

Radiological, Nuclear Response Criteria (RNRC) conference in Ottawa

ISR, in collaboration with Health Canada - Radiation Protection Bureau (HC-RPB) and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), conducted a Radiological, Nuclear Response Criteria (RNRC) conference in Ottawa 29-30 June 2011 at the new Ottawa Convention Center. The conference was attended by First Responders, Municipal, Provincial and Federal RN responders from all across Canada. The goal of the conference was to discuss the current response criteria and to determine if there was a requirement to improve the interoperability for all responding agencies.

The 70+ participants were updated on current practices by 17 different speakers, each explaining their local or organizational response methodologies.

All participants found the conference very enlightening and interesting. This CRTI project could lead to a more harmonized approach to RN emergency response in Canada.

May 10, 2011

Operational Safety Assessment following Fukushima

Jeff Lafortune, President of ISR, participated last week in a consultant meeting at the IAEA on the revision of OSART (IAEA's Operational Safety Assessment Review Team) guidelines following lessons learned from the Fukushima accident.

May 10, 2011

Exercise Nautilus 2011

ISR, on behalf of Norway's National Radiation Protection Agency and the IAEA, in collaboration with the nuclear regulators and ministries of Interior of Bulgaria and Romania, just completed with great success exercise Nautilus. This two-day exercise took place on the Danube between Bechet (Romania) and Oryahovo (Bulgaria). The exercise involved the hijacking of a shipment of spent fuel from Kozloduy nuclear power plant.

March 25, 2011

ECOTEST Radiation Measurement Instruments

ISR is the Canadian dealer for ECOTEST radiation measurement instruments. Due to the tragic events in Japan, demand for radiation detectors has increased. To facilitate purchases, ISR has opened an Ebay account to sell a limited amount of ECOTEST's TERRA MKS-05 radiation detectors. For more information, or if you are interested in making a purchase, please visit here.

March 9, 2011

ISR develops new tool for supporting in-field rad monitoring

In support of Defence Research & Development Canada (DRDC – Ottawa), ISR has developed a radiation detector interface that allows for real time simultaneous monitoring and transmission of data from hundreds of radiation detectors.

This project involves the collection and collating of dose rate and contamination data, coupled with time and position (there is an integrated GPS capable of providing both) for upwards of 500 Thermo RadEye PRD dosimeters. These detectors will be placed over several hundreds of square meters, and left untended for up to several days as part of a large area dispersion experiment.

The ISR solution, S3-DETECTOR, is a light-weight controller (smaller than an i-phone) that mounts to the RadEye and interfaces via the IR port. Data is transmitted to a base station at regular intervals by either RF or GPRS. The data is stored in a secure SQL database capable of customizable user-defined display on the Command and Control system. Each unit also has an SD memory card for redundant storage.

This device, although developed for an R&D project, will allow agencies and organizations to provide real time monitoring for hundreds of fixed and mobile detectors, all across the country, in a package that can be clipped on a jacket pocket etc. This inexpensive solution will greatly increase data integration within organizations as well as interoperability between organizations. The device can be adapted to numerous detector manufacturers.

March 7, 2011

Emergency Disaster Services personnel participate in Exercise Kaboom

For more information, click here.

March 2, 2011

Kaboom 2010 Exercise a success

In February 2011, ISR facilitated Exercise Kaboom, a live event exercise designed to validate response capabilities to an RDD with an unintended radiological dispersal in a pre and post blast environment. Sponsored by the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear & Explosives (CBRNE) Research and Technology Initiative (CRTI), and with the support of the County of Essex and the City of Windsor, the exercise involved first responders, local, regional, provincial, and federal agencies.

All of the exercise objectives were achieved resulting in an enhanced understanding of the response requirements involved in an RN incident, including the initial response, forensic investigation and remediation. Authorities were also able to observe Transport Canada's CBRNE Industry and Contractor support that is available to responding agencies through the CBRNE Emergency Response Assistance Plan (ERAP). The transition and integration of industry response teams for the planning and actual remediation of the incident site was successfully demonstrated. Overall, Kaboom helped to validate existing CBRNE response capabilities and identify several areas that require improvement and further development.

Further details on this exercise were published in the Fall 2011 Edition of the Transport Canada (TDG) quarterly newsletter.

February 28, 2011

ISR welcomes Jean Pierre Letourneau

ISR welcomes Jean Pierre Letourneau on board as the new Senior Nuclear Advisor. Mr. Letourneau has over 30 years experience in the nuclear industry with AELC, Gentilly-2, OPG and Bruce. He is a Nuclear Engineer that will augment ISR's technical expertise within the growing nuclear industry in Canada.

February 23, 2011

Bulgaria and Romania one step closer to Exercise Nautilus

ISR's President was in Romania and Bulgaria this month discussing the final details of Exercise Nautilus, an international nuclear terrorism exercise, with both countries' Special Forces, Ministries of Interior and Nuclear Regulators, as well as local mayors and emergency services. This exercise is organized with the support of Norway and in coordination with the International Atomic Energy Agency.

February 1, 2011

ISR to develop and facilitate Exercise Kaboom 2011

ISR has been retained by the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear & Explosives (CBRNE) Research and Technology Initiative (CRTI) to develop and facilitate an RDD exercise with an unintended radiological dispersal in an effort to validate capabilities in a pre and post blast environment. This exercise, labeled Kaboom 2011, is one of several events that will make up the Central Gateway Exercise series, a full spectrum capability validation exercise sponsored by CRTI, The County of Essex, and the City of Windsor. During the week of February 21st to 25th 2011, participants from every level of government, including local, regional, provincial, federal and international agencies, will have to assess and respond to an explosive threat and event intended to cripple the infrastructure and cross border traffic in the Windsor and Sarnia area.

Another primary objective of this exercise is to understand the capabilities of Transport Canada's CBRNE Industry and Contractor support that can be made available to responding agencies through the CBRNE Emergency Response Assistance Plan (ERAP). Of particular interest is the transition and integration of industry response teams for the planning and actual remediation of the incident site to for normal operations. ISR is excited to be involved in this project as it will foster a better understanding of available resources which will further enhance CBRNE emergency response capabilities in Canada.

January 26, 2011

ISR Europe wins contract to conduct exercise Indian Summer in the Netherlands

ISR Europe, in cooperation with ISR and Cap Gemini, has won a contract from BZK (Ministry of Interior) to prepare and conduct the next national nuclear exercise in the Netherlands. Exercise Indian Summer will involve the Borssele Nuclear Power Plant and will last two days. It is scheduled to take place in October 2011.

January 26, 2011

ISR to conduct a major nuclear security exercise in Bulgaria and Romania

ISR is working in cooperation with Norway, the IAEA and the governments of Bulgaria and Romania to prepare, conduct and evaluate a major international nuclear field exercise on the border between Romania and Bulgaria. Exercise NAUTILUS, to be held in the spring of 2011, will involve criminal attacks on a barge carrying (simulated) spent fuel. The exercise will last two days and will involve field deployment of special security forces from both countries. The IAEA will participate in this exercise.

January 26, 2011

Exercise BIOSHIELD GLOBAL a great success

In November 2010, ISR and ISR Europe conducted exercise BIOSHIELD GLOBAL in Utrecht, the Netherlands. This exercise, organized in cooperation with the Dutch National Counterterrorism Office and INTERPOL, involved players from 14 countries and international organizations, and over 75 international observers. BIOSHIELD GLOBAL focused on an international bioterrorism threat and helped identify possible improvements to international cooperation and coordinated threat assessment mechanisms and protocols.

January 26, 2011

ISR retained by Department of National Defence to carry out radon surveys in the Maritimes

ISR has been retained by the Director General Nuclear Safety to carry out several large scale radon gas surveys at various Canadian Forces bases, including 5 Wing Goose Bay in Labrador, 9 Wing Gander in Newfoundland, 14 Wing Greenwood in Nova Scotia and CFB Gagetown in New Brunswick. The projects, part of a Health Canada initiative to survey all federally owned occupied buildings, will see the deployment of approximately 8,000 detectors throughout occupied DND buildings and Residential Housing Units at these sites.

Prior to the end of March 2011, ISR will also be conducting an assessment of the time and material requirements to conduct a radon survey within occupied CF/DND buildings throughout the province of Quebec.

The surveys include the deployment and retrieval of detectors utilizing specially designed ISR proprietary software to keep track of the detectors and many building construction/detector placement parameters. Once the detectors are analysed by the Health Canada Radon Laboratory, ISR conducts an in depth data analysis and provides recommendations for retesting, or mitigation.

These surveys follow on the heels of successful surveys last winter of CFB Halifax and 12 Wing Shearwater.

October 18, 2010

In June of 2010, ISR hosted the Workshop on Children as Vulnerable Populations in Radiological/Nuclear (R/N) Events, funded by the CBRNE Research and Technology Initiative (CRTI). Following this, a number of papers related to topics discussed at the workshop were published in Radiation Protection Dosimetry. One of these papers entitled "Children as Vulnerable Populations in Radiological/Nuclear Events: Discussion Scenarios" was published by ISR staff.

The paper details the R/N scenarios presented at the workshop in order to generate discussion among the workshop participants with the intent of identifying gaps in the treatment and management of children during R/N events. It can be accessed online in Radiation Protection Dosimetry at http://rpd.oxfordjournals.org/.

Rodrigues, M., Chaput, J., Bellman, C. and Cousins, T. Children as Vulnerable Populations in Radiological/Nuclear Events: Discussion Scenarios. Radait. Prot. Dosim. Advance Access published October 5, 2010, doi:10.1093/rpd/ncq274.

September 30, 2010

Prior to the Vancouver 2010 Olympics (V2010), ISR was retained by the Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Research and Technology Initiative (CRTI) to design and deliver two live exercises embedded within the Olympics exercise known as GOLD. One of these exercises (simulating a chemical attack at an Olympics related gathering) took place in Richmond, BC on 3 November, 2009.

On 27 September, 2010 the Mayor of Richmond was presented with the Motorola Award for Excellence in Emergency Preparedness in the Exercise Category for Exercise Gold. A media release by the City of Richmond following the receipt of the award read in part: "The City gratefully acknowledges...the expertise of International Safety Research in scenario design and exercise coordination."

ISR would like to congratulate the City of Richmond on their tremendous efforts and the receipt of this prestigious award.

September 28, 2010

ISR has started the delivery of the Transport Canada (TC) Surveillance Procedures Training Program. The focus of this training program is the effective, efficient and consistent conduct of all surveillance activities on Canadian civil aviation certificate holders (e.g. airlines, airports, etc.). This training program is intended to be delivered to all 1000+ TC Civil Aviation Delegated Officers (inspectors) over the next 3 years.

September 17, 2010

ISR was hired by Director General Nuclear Safety to conduct a scoping study of radon survey requirements for CFB Gagetown, 14 Wing Greenwood and 9 Wing Gander. In October ISR will deploy a team of Radon Measurement Specialists to assess the time and material requirements of conducting a full-scale radon survey of all occupied buildings at these sites, including integral and lodger units.

September 13, 2010

ISR recently completed the collection of approximately 4300 "alpha track" radon detectors, which were deployed in March of this year to several CF Bases in Atlantic Canada including CFB Halifax and 12 Wing Shearwater. This project is being carried out on behalf of DND's Director General of Nuclear Safety. The next stage of this project includes an analysis of the data presently being gathered from the detectors by Health Canada's Radiation Protection Bureau.

September 13, 2010

ISR Europe and ISR Canada have teamed up to plan and deliver EXERCISE BIOSHIELD GLOBAL – a project co-sponsored by of The Netherlands NCTb (National Coordinator for Counter Terrorism) and INTERPOL. This global bioterrorism table-top exercise will take place in The Netherlands 16-18 November with the participation of several countries and international agencies from around the world. The exercise will focus on intelligence sharing and interoperability between medical, security and crisis management officials prior to and during a pan global bioterrorism event.

August 30, 2010

ISR was hired by Transport Canada (TC) - Civil Aviation to design and develop a training program for TC's Delegated Officers (inspectors) with respect to the conduct of surveillance activities. During the week of August 30, 2010 the pilot version of the training program was conducted and deemed a resounding success by all in attendance including a compliment that "this is the best course we have ever given".