RMPD staff in West Cumbria worked with school children from a Whitehaven School during a recent emergency planning exercise of multiagency response to a simulated nuclear accident at nearby BNFL, Sellafield.
The role of the Regional Medical Physics Department (RMPD) would be to carry out radiation monitoring and decontamination as well as providing advice on radiation risks and effects, appropriate countermeasures and related public health aspects. During the exercise, 123 children and other members of the public simulated evacuees at risk of being contaminated with radioactivity, and teams from RMPD monitored them. Head of RMPD at Whitehaven, Hugh Wilkins said: "We did our preparation, everyone worked efficiently and, as a result, the exercise was very successful".
In the event of accidental release of radioactivity from Sellafield, RMPD would also be involved during the recovery phase extending over subsequent weeks and months. The Department houses a whole body monitor funded by the Department of the Environment. This would be used to monitor potentially large numbers of members of the public to detect any residual radioactivity from the fallout.
Regional Medical Physics Department, Newcastle General Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE4 6BE, UK.
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Regional Medical Physics Department, a Clinical Directorate of the Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust.
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