Community Outreach Programs Stress Training And Vigilance
Brookhaven Lab is the key to the federal government’s response to possible radiological emergencies in the Northeast United States, responsible for training first responders, monitoring high-risk events, and coordinating response as situations develop. As the Regional Coordinating Office for the DOE/NNSA Radiological Assistance Program, known as RAP, the Laboratory provides first-responder radiological assistance to local, state, tribal and federal agencies in the detection, identification and analysis, and response to events involving the use of radiological/nuclear material.
The program encompasses an 11-state area, and is managed by the DOE Regional Response Coordinator, Richard Diem, along with Kathleen McIntyre, who manages the contractor resources. After the 2001 attack on the World Trade Center, the RAP team was deployed to survey the debris for radiation. The RAP team also monitors events like meetings of the United Nations General Assembly, papal visits, the U.S. Tennis Open and Major League Baseball playoffs.
“Our latest response was to Alexandria Bay, where the U.S. Customs Border Patrol reported that something had set off neutron detectors,” she said. “The U.S. Coast Guard sent an aircraft for the team members, and within four hours we were assisting the local first responders.”
Members of the team are trained to evaluate the consequences of a radiological emergency and advise local authorities on what actions need to be taken to minimize the health and environmental effects of an incident. Training is a big part of the team’s mission, McIntyre said. The team has developed emergency plans and procedures and participated in numerous emergency drills and full-scale exercises.
Regional Reachback is a Department of Homeland Security program set up to address potential threats by interpreting data from radiation detection equipment deployed by a variety of local agencies. The pilot program has been up and running for about 18 months, said Biays Bowerman, its Brookhaven coordinator.
“Lots of equipment is being purchased and deployed, and our program provides expert computer analysis over the phone when needed,” Bowerman said. “There are nine Brookhaven specialists and eight more at the Environmental Measurements Laboratory in New York City covering the northern half of the U.S. On any call, both labs will respond and confer about what material caused the alarm and whether it constitutes a threat.” Bowerman said that the Regional Reachback team is contacted about twice a month.
