• Chemical, biological and radioactive emergencies. An update of the national system
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    Chemical, biological and radioactive emergencies. An update of the national system

Chemical, biological and radioactive emergencies. An update of the national system

April 2019

As part of the RTI together with Exprivia, which is its trustee, CAE has won the tender announced by the Italian Ministry ofInterior for the implementation of the project aiming at strengthening the national system for crisis prevention and security management - with particular reference to the risks caused by CBRN-e agents (Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive) - on behalf of the Fire Department.

The project covers the entire national territory and involves a series of activities designed to update and extend the current risk monitoring systems connected to the transportation of radioactive pollutants and the absorption of gamma radiation. These activities include: the supply and installation of a modern network of detection sensors and spectrometers aimed at controlling large areas at risk; the technological adaptation of the existing monitoring network and the creation of a central system for the detection, control, analysis and simulation of emergency scenarios, to create an integrated alarm management. The system will also aim at improving staff training and training activities, as well as at achieving a greater coordination among the different institutions through the implementation of automated information processes.

The project originates from the will to upgrade the "CBRN-e National Crisis Prevention and Management System", considering that, compared to when the system was created, the scenario has now become more complex. We must consider that, today, new threats to the safety of our citizens are added to the prevailing original risk; these new risks can be linked to crime - which can also be connected to terrorism - or to industrial emergency events, linked to nuclear installations in some of the neighbouring countries. These threats are likely to change and/or increase over time, which is why the project is designed to be integrated in the future with other risk detection elements, in addition to the "original" radiological and nuclear ones.

Within this project, CAE will deal with the data acquisition network, particularly referring to:

Data acquisition system: update of the current data acquisition software to allow the integration of newly supplied probes;

Revision of the radio channel: on-field assessment and extraordinary maintenance of 80 measurement stations as far as the transmission components are concerned;

Station upgrade: upgrade of the current control units to manage multiple sensors and improve speed and reliability of data transmissions;

Development of a packet radio transmission solution: a new communication protocol for the radio channel will be defined.

The project will guarantee continuous operation even during the transitional phase, as well as full backwards compatibility.

The new network will be useful to support the "national crisis prevention and management system". This new technology will allow the human resources involved in the operations a more effective organization, as well as the reduction of the time required for risk assessment and, therefore, of the times of intervention.


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