which municipalities are affected?

As part of the 2024 national programming of nuclear and radiological emergency exercises, a nuclear safety exercise is organized this Thursday, November 28, 2024 at the EDF nuclear power plant in Tricastin. In total, 19 municipalities in Gard are affected by the perimeter of the Special Intervention Plan of 20 km, these are: Aiguèze, Bagnols-sur-Cèze, Carsan, Chusclan, Le Garn, Issirac, Laval-Saint-Roman , Pont-Saint-Esprit, Saint-Alexandre, Saint-Christol-de-Rodières, Saint-Étienne-des-sorts, Saint-Gervais, Saint-Julien-de-Peyrolas, Saint-Laurent-de-Carnols, Saint-Michel-d'Euzet, Saint-Nazaire, Saint-Paulet-de-Caisson, Salazac and Vénéjan. The population of these Gard municipalities will receive a FR-Alert message at the start of the financial year to inform them of its holding. Only the commune of Pont-Saint-Esprit will actually perform the exercise (kept secret).

This exercise aims, based on a confidential scenario, developed by the IRSN (Institute of Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety), to test the emergency provisions, procedures and tools planned by the prefecture (special intervention plan) and the operator (internal emergency plan) in the event of an accident on this site, and more particularly:

• the alert and information chain of services and communities

• population alert systems,

• the coordination of public authorities and the various organizations involved in nuclear crisis management

• the establishment of a health workshop for the care of potentially contaminated people at the Portes de Provence Hospital Group in Montélimar

• the evacuation of establishments open to the public, including a school, in Pierrelatte which will be involved in the exercise

• the establishment of a reception and population regrouping center for the care of uncontaminated evacuees in Pierrelatte

This type of very large-scale training allows for “real-life” testing of inter-service coordination, which is essential for managing an incident for which the State services and the operator EDF must practice each year. Many services and operators will participate in this exercise: the operator, the ASN and the IRSN, the Departmental Fire and Rescue Service, the National Gendarmerie, the Regional Health Agency, the Portes de Provence hospital group, the SMUR, the prefectures of Drôme, Ardèche, Vaucluse and Gard, the municipalities within the scope of the exercise, the departmental directorate for population protection, the directorate regional environment, land use planning and housing, the departmental military delegation, Vinci and the interdepartmental direction of central-east roads, the SNCF and the CNR.

Population alert systems tested

The FR-Alert system will be used. It makes it possible to warn anyone with a mobile phone of danger in real time and tell them what action to take. Thus, on Thursday November 28, 2024, people in the exercise area are likely to receive a notification on their smartphone. The SAIP system (Alert and Information System for Populations), whose sirens sound every month, will also be tested. This exercise will have no impact on the population. It will not include a population containment or evacuation operation.

These exercises help develop a culture of risk within the population, with citizens being major players in their own security. Residents and people located in the area concerned will receive instructions on how to behave in the event of an accident and in order to become aware of the existence of these risks.