Stakeholder Views on the Implementation of Food and Agricultural Protective Actions in Ireland following a Nuclear Accident Abroad Veronica Smith, Catherine Organo and Ciara McMahon IAEA Conference on Global Emergency Preparedness and Response Vienna 19-23 October 2015

Contents Introduction and background to the stakeholder engagement process Setting up the stakeholder engagement Meetings and issues discussed Outcomes regarding food and agricultural management options Next steps

Ireland No nuclear facilities or research reactors Following a nuclear accident abroad the most significant route of potential exposure would be the consumption of contaminated food Most of the ingestion dose could be averted through the introduction of protective actions Importance of agriculture and food to Ireland’s economy 15% of the world’s infant formula is made in Ireland Ireland is the 5th largest exporter of beef in the world

PREPARE PREPARE Project Innovative integrated tools and platforms for radiological emergency preparedness and post-accident response in Europe Euratom for Nuclear Research and Training Activities: Fission 2013: 323287 PREPARE Work Package 1 - Operational procedures for long lasting releases Work Package 2 - Platform for information collection and exchange Work Package 3 - Management of Contaminated Goods Work Package 4 - Atmospheric modelling Work Package 5 - Aquatic modelling Work Package 6 - Communication with the public Work Package 7 - Training Work Package 8 - Management

Ireland’s PREPARE WP3 Objective To investigate the issues involved in placing Irish produced foodstuffs (meat, dairy and crops) in the marketplace (at home and abroad) following contamination from a nuclear accident abroad

EURANOS Food Handbook In 2009, a multi-disciplinary group was set up to customise the EURANOS food handbook for Irish conditions – the Irish Food Handbook This group comprised agricultural, sea fishery protection, veterinary, food safety, environmental protection and radiation protection experts. It includes advice for farmers, food producers, distributors and retailers on agriculture and food management options. .

Starting Stakeholder Engagement Used EURANOS customisation group as a starting point Identified other stakeholder organisations that should be involved Majority of participants had no background in radiation or radioactive contamination All participants are either involved in emergency preparedness and response or are involved in the food industry in Ireland and have insight into food contamination issues e.g. Dioxins in pork and BSE

Government Departments Organisations Department of Agriculture, Food & the Marine Department of the Environment, Community & Local Government Government Departments Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (now EPA Office of Radiological Protection) Food Safety Authority of Ireland State Agencies Irish Farmers Association Farming Sector Irish Dairy Industries Association Irish Dairy Board Dairy Sector Meat Industry Ireland Meat Sector Teagasc Irish Grain and Feed Association Crops Sector Sea Fisheries Protection Agency Seafood Sector Tesco Musgrave Group Retail Sector Consumer Association of Ireland Consumer Sector

National Emergency Co-ordination Centre Meetings May and October 2014 Facilitator skilled in stakeholder engagement Approx. 20 participants per meeting First meeting – contamination of food, protective actions to reduce radioactivity in food, impact on trade Second meeting - feasibility of various food and agricultural management options National Emergency Co-ordination Centre

Agricultural Protective Actions Provision of ammonium-ferric hexacyano-ferrate (AFCF) to dairy cows and meat producing animals to inhibit radiocaesium transfer to milk and meat by reducing absorption in the gut Clean feeding (providing less contaminated or uncontaminated feed to animals) Manipulation of slaughter times Early - to minimise entry of radionuclides Late – decay of short lived radionuclides and also in conjunction with clean feeding

General Outcomes The dilution of contaminated milk exceeding EU Maximum Permitted Levels (MPLs) would not be acceptable The use of contaminated food to make other products e.g. milk into cheese, would also never be acceptable in Ireland Other relatively straightforward protective actions such as those on the previous slide were seen as possible provided that the concerns of the farming, food production, retail and consumer sectors are addressed

Key Issues – Provision of AFCF to Cattle Sourcing and distributing AFCF Dosage amounts – communications with farmers? Which animals – beef/dairy, and when? Communications with consumers re safety – food labelling Associated costs – farmers/consumers? Need more information – examples of when it was used effectively in past Panel not convinced that this option would be acceptable to public

Key Issues – Clean feeding Availability - particularly April to June (more animals) and after long winter Logistics of acquiring feed – dependent on location and magnitude of accident Preparedness – storage space, space for housing all animals Which animals and for how long – who decides (farmer or government)? Associated costs – farmers/consumers Live monitoring by veterinary inspectors – logistics Positive perception – clean and natural – more acceptable to consumers

Key Issues – Manipulation of Slaughter Times Time of year and age of animals Plant capacity, over production and storage Associated costs – farmers/consumers Communications with farmers Live monitoring by veterinary inspectors – logistics Labelling Positive perception – clean and natural – more acceptable to consumers

Next Steps PREPARE WP3 final workshop in November in Paris Ireland’s National Emergency Plan for Nuclear Accidents is currently undergoing a review and it will be important to ensure that the issues arising from this stakeholder engagement are covered in the revised plan Revised plan will be presented to the stakeholder group for discussion Ireland is participating in INEX5 – good opportunity to test the revised plan – stakeholders from this process will be included in the exercise Irish Food Handbook should also be reviewed