D2.3A Critical event parameters

The overall aim of the project “Preparedness and Resilience Against CBRN Terrorism using Integrated Concepts and Equipment” (PRACTICE) is to improve the ability to respond to and recover from a Chemical (C), Biological (B), Radiological (R) or Nuclear (N) incident. The objective of the project is to create an integrated European approach to a CBRN crisis – i.e. a European Integrated CBRN Response System. This will be achieved through the development of an improved system of tools, methods and procedures that is going to provide EU with a capability to carry out a truly integrated and coordinated operational reaction following the occurrence of a CBRN crisis, whether it is caused by a terrorist act or an accident. The objective of the work package (WP) 2 on selection of scenarios and identification of critical event parameters is to: • Produce a template for scenarios and requirements, as a basis to make a selection of appropriate and representative CBRN-scenarios. • Based on the selected scenarios and experience from exercises, real events and experience from earlier relevant projects, identify, describe and organize sets of critical event parameters/observables characterizing the events, which first responders and authorities use as input for selecting, prioritising and in a number of cases developing appropriate emergency preparedness and response measures. • Identify a set of non-terrorist accident scenarios, which will be used as reference to sort out CBRN-specific parameters/observables and as an aid to the gap analysis to be carried out in WP4. • To create – as part of a CBRN response toolbox and training kit to be developed in WP4, WP5, WP6 and WP7 – a set of publicly available CBRN scenarios (not classified) that can be used by the European countries for emergency preparedness planning, education, training, and exercises. Such a set of publicly available scenarios is not available today. WP2 is divided in three tasks with associated deliverables: • Task 2.1. Scenario template and requirements o Deliverable D2.1 (a) Detailed scenario template and requirements for consequence assessments and (b) collection of submitted scenarios (those publicly available) and information on accidents • Task 2.2. Reference set of scenarios o Deliverable D2.2 Reference set of CBRN scenarios covering releases of hazardous chemical (C), biological (B) and radiological (R) substances • Task 2.3. Consequence assessments and identification of critical event parameters o Deliverable D2.3 Consequence assessments of the selected set of reference CBRN scenarios and critical event parameters This report, “D2.3A Critical event parameters”, constitutes the first part of the third deliverable of WP2 “Scenarios and critical event parameters” of the EU FP7 project PRACTICE. The second part “D2.3B Consequence assessments of the reference set of CBRN scenarios” is given in a separate report (Breivik et al., 2012). This WP is led by the Norwegian Defence Research Establishment (FFI).