The Swedish Radiation Safety Authority is on alert 24 hours a day, every day of the year. The authority gives advice and information in the event of a nuclear energy accident or any other incident or accident involving radiation.
The task of the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority is to protect people and the environment from the consequences of radiation accidents. Hence, the authority is on alert to handle incidents such as accidents with nuclear technology and accidents that occur during the transportation of radioactive material. As an expert within radiation protection and nuclear technology, the authority first and foremost gives advice and recommendations to those who lead the work with handling the incident or accident.
Information in the event of a radiation accident
The Swedish preparedness consists of a network of authorities on all levels of society. They have various areas of responsibility and roles and in the event of accidents, they must be able to co-operate in order to protect people and the environment as best as possible against the needless effects of radiation.
The task of the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority is to assess the risks and possible nuclear technology and other radiation accidents and how these can affect Sweden. The authority has an official on alert, who is reachable via SOS Alarm.
The aim of the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority’s preparedness is to minimise the impact on people and the environment in the event of an accident, and consequently:
- prevent serious radiation injuries to people
- reduce the effects of radiation in the long term
- limit the consequences of a radiation accident in the community
- evaluate the technical level of threat in the event of a nuclear energy accident
The preparedness plan – support during the crisis
The planning of preparedness covers accidents and incidents involving radiation in Sweden as well as abroad. In order to be able to react quickly if an accident occurs, a preparedness plan is required, providing guidelines on how the authority should work in crisis situations. Even if it is not possible to predict all accident situations, the plan provides a good basis to start from. However, since no two incidents are the same, it is important that the Swedish Radiation Safety Authority has the ability to improvise in order to be able to manage a crisis situation.