Expert Team Conducts Radiological Incident Exercise

March 29, 2006

OTTAWA - This week a team of technical experts from the Government of Canada are gathering at Slemon Park in Prince Edward Island to conduct a radiological incident exercise. Participants will be trained on how to appropriately respond to terrorist attacks involving radiological-nuclear sources. This will be the first national level exercise of this kind ever held in Canada involving integrated teams. It will also be the largest Chemical, Biological, Radiological & Nuclear (CBRN) Research & Technology Initiative (CRTI) exercise to date.

"The team will be responding as if Canada had to react to a radiological incident," says Ted Sykes, Nuclear-Radiological Portfolio Manager at the CRTI in Ottawa.

More than 140 of Canada's top radiological-nuclear experts will take part in Exercise Maritime Response, a three-day field exercise that will pit them against some of the toughest conditions ever experienced in this kind of field exercise. Participants must find, then identify and secure, all sources of radioactive materials. Operational teams from the RCMP and the Canadian Forces' Joint Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Defence (JNBCD) Company will work alongside scientific teams.

"This is the sort of training that we hope we will never have to use in Canada," says Helen Griffiths from Health Canada's Nuclear Emergency Preparedness & Response Division. "But we must prepare for all possible eventualities in order to protect Canadians."

Health Canada is one of the eight federal, and one provincial, agencies participating in this exercise. The others are Defence R&D; Canada, Natural Resources Canada, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, the Canada Border Services Agency, the Canadian Forces JNBCD Company and the RCMP. Personnel from the Department of National Defence's Nuclear Safety directorate are also participating. The provincial nuclear emergency management staff of New Brunswick's Emergency Measures Organization and first responder teams trained in hazardous material response will be participating as well.

The CRTI is an interdepartmental initiative of 18 federal science and security based departments and agencies led by Defence R&D; Canada. The CRTI represents the federal science community's response and commitment to providing solutions to strengthen Canada's preparedness for, prevention of and response to a CBRN attack.

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Note to Editors:

The CRTI is hosting an Exercise Maritime Response Media Event with a news briefing and demonstration at Slemon Park in Prince Edward Island on March 31, 2006. For security reasons, all participating media must confirm their attendance (including contact information and an equipment list) by Wednesday March 29, 2006 with Kelly Anderson at 1-888-848-9898, ext.216 or anderson@onthefrontlines.com. Photographs will be available upon request.

For general CRTI information visit our Web site at www.crti.drdc-rddc.gc.ca/en/default.asp or contact:
Susan McIntyre
CRTI Secretariat
(613) 995-8008 or (613) 371-0534