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The two-day "Exercise Checkerboard" ended smoothly this evening (April 27).
The exercise aimed to test the response capability and co-ordination among concerned bureaux and departments under trying circumstances, in the event of a serious incident causing radiological release at the nuclear power stations at Daya Bay coupled with the happening of another emergency or natural disaster at the same time.
The exercise is the largest that the Government has ever held, mobilising more than 3,200 officers in total. About 2,000 officers from more than 30 bureaux and departments were tested in various parts of the Daya Bay Contingency Plan including early alerts, activation of contingency plan, co-ordination and co-operation among bureaux and departments, decision making and implementation of countermeasures, dissemination of information to the public, responding to press enquiries, handling panic, etc.
For on-the-ground operations, more than 1,000 officers have been mobilised in testing out the co-ordination and implementation capability in various aspects, which include:
* implementation of precautionary evacuation in Tung Ping Chau, including the use of helicopters, police launches and customs vessels in the evacuation and radiation checking of evacuees at Ma Liu Shui;
* implementation of sheltering measures in three schools in Tai Po;
* deployment of helicopters and mobile survey teams to track the plume coverage in the air and measure the radiation level on the ground;
* collection of air, drinking water and sea water samples from fire stations, reservoirs, marine fish culture zones and offshore in the northeast water for radiation tests;
* conducting radiation checking for vegetables, live pigs, goods vehicles and goods at points of entry;
* setting up of health desks and monitoring centres at points of entry and swimming pools in urban area to assist people who are suspected to have been contaminated by radiation;
* activation of emergency radiation treatment centres in public hospitals;
* being confronted at the same time by a landslide in the rural area in Sai Kung after continuous heavy rain. An emergency evacuation of more than 100 people by the Police was carried out, following a site inspection by the Geotechnical Engineering Office staff.
This large scale exercise is also the first of its kind to involve public participation. Over 2,000 citizens and students have taken part.
After the completion of the exercise, all the participant bureaux and departments will seriously review the result. Nuclear experts from the International Atomic Energy Agency, the United Kingdom, France, the Mainland and Macao, together with local experts, will provide their feedbacks and make improvement recommendations.
"We will collect the comments from various parties, assess the outcome of the exercise, identify lessons learned and make refinements to the Daya Bay Contingency Plan," a Security Bureau spokesperson said.
The Chief Executive, Chief Secretary for Administration, Secretary for Justice and a number of Principal Officials took part in the exercise. Other operational departments and agencies which had participated in the exercise include the Police; Fire Services Department; Customs and Excise Department; Immigration Department; Hospital Authority; Department of Health; Food and Environmental Hygiene Department; Agriculture, Fisheries and Conservation Department; Electrical and Mechanical Services Department; Hong Kong Observatory; Water Supplies Department; Environmental Protection Department; Government Laboratory; Leisure and Cultural Services Department; Government Flying Service; Civil Engineering and Development Department; Information Services Department ; Home Affairs Department; Government Logistics Department; Civil Aid Service; Auxiliary Medical Service and others.
Ends/Friday, April 27, 2012
Issued at HKT 23:56
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