This section describes what should be in the “exercise specifications” portion of the exercise manual.
The exercise specifications consist of the objectives, scope and constraints related to the exercise. Determining the exercise specifications is the first step of the exercise preparation process. No other work should proceed until the exercise management committee has agreed upon these specifications.
4.1. EXERCISE OBJECTIVES
Exercise objectives are based on the response objectives relevant to the plans being exercised.
A response objective is defined as the result that must be achieved when performing an action, i.e. what is the action trying to accomplish [4, 5].
The most recent IAEA guidance for emergency response objectives is EPR-Method [2]. This document provides checklists of emergency preparedness elements and emergency response functions that cover nuclear as well as radiological emergencies (threat categories I to V).
Each emergency response function is defined in terms of a main response objective and, where appropriate, by a performance objective. These suggested performance objectives are intended as guidelines and must be adapted to local conditions.
Examples from EPR-Method [2]
Under the functional element of Identifying, Notifying and Activating for threat category I facilities, one of the response objective is “to ensure that operators promptly determine the appropriate emergency class or the level of the response, initiate on-site actions, and notify and provide updated information to the off-site notification point”, and the suggested response time objectives at the facility level are to classify the emergency in less than 15 minutes, to notify local (PAZ and UPZ) authorities after classification within 30 minutes, and to fully activate emergency organization within 2 hours (Appendix X [2]).
Response objectives must be clearly defined as part of an adequate emergency preparedness programme.
Exercise objectives are defined as a subset of response objectives that will be tested during the exercise. For practical reasons, a single exercise does not test ALL response objectives.
Therefore, it is necessary to choose which response objectives will be tested. Over an exercise cycle, the aim would be to test all response objectives.
Furthermore, for practical reasons, it is not always possible to test the complete response objective during an exercise. The most obvious example is evacuation. If the response objective for evacuation affects, say, 10,000 people, it would be difficult in reality to exercise the full evacuation of that entire group. On the other hand, it may be possible to evacuate a smaller sample in a shorter time to verify if the procedures for doing so are adequate. This would provide an indication, and only an indication, that the actual response objective can be met with the arrangements in place. In this case, the exercise objective would be a modified or scaled down version of the response objective. Examples of exercise objectives are included in Appendix II.
There is often a tendency to go overboard in exercises and test as many objectives as possible.
This is not recommended. It is preferable to focus on a few key objectives, and on those which have been weak in the past. This ensures that the lessons identified are manageable and lead to concrete changes.
• Select compatible objectives: Do not attempt to conduct an exercise at night to test recall and test the evacuation of daytime employees, concurrently.
• Avoid being overly ambitious: Select a reasonable core set of objectives.
• Avoid doing everything all at once: When organizations fall behind, they try to catch up by including as many objectives as possible in one massive exercise. Pick a few different ones at each annual exercise and ensure coverage over a reasonable cycle (e.g. five years).
4.2. EXERCISE SCOPE
The exercise scope should be determined before any real work on the exercise scenario begins.
The scope of the exercise includes:
• selecting the organizations that will participate and the extent of their participation;
• deciding on the time and duration of the exercise; and
• determining the extent of the actions that will be carried out during the exercise.
The extent of participation by organizations, teams or individual specialists depends on the objectives of the exercise. In the case of partial exercises, the presence of some organizations may not be essential and others need only be observers. A particular organization that does not play an active role can be requested to evaluate the ability of the participating organization(s). As a benefit, the observers of the non-participating organizations can obtain a thorough understanding of the tasks and working conditions of the acting organization.
When involving government organizations such as national departments or ministries, a considerable amount of lead-time to prepare may be required. In practice, this may limit participation.
Each participating organization, especially large ones, must clearly identify which internal sections, departments or individuals will participate in the exercise, and to what extent, or subject to what restrictions. These must be consistent with the exercise objectives.
Decisions related to the selection of players may include the following considerations:
• should the first assigned person participate or should alternates participate?
• over time will everyone have a chance to participate?
• will there be enough qualified non-players to control and evaluate the exercise?
In choosing organizations and individuals, their availability should be taken into account, e.g.
do normal duties, major events (e.g. plant shutdown, major political activities) or other major exercises prevent them from participating in the exercise? Although a particular exercise may be important, the priorities of participating organizations may conflict with those of the host organization.
Another important aspect to keep in mind is the size and location of the selected exercise sites. Consider the availability of locations and the practicality of involving them in a major exercise.
4.3. EXERCISE CONSTRAINTS
Exercise objectives are often subject to constraints imposed by practical considerations. For example, it may not always be possible to start the exercise in the middle of the night, even though this would allow a useful test of the functions at a time when people are least available. Financial resources may also be limited and prevent the conduct of an exercise lasting more than one day. There may also be other priorities, political or other, that restrict the time available for the exercise, or that limit the participation of important organizations.
Constraints should be identified early in the process to avoid wasting efforts in designing an exercise that cannot be implemented.