ISR News

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.

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