The European Community Urgent Radiological Information Exchange (ECURIE) is the European early

notification system In information technology, a notification system is a combination of software and hardware that delivers a message to a set of recipients. It commonly displays activity related to an account. These systems are an important aspect of modern web ...

in the event of a radiological or nuclear emergency. The ECURIE system has two message types: an ''ECURIE Alert message'', which implies an emergency notification under Euratom and an ''ECURIE Information message'', which is a voluntary notification of smaller events and incidents. The possibility of sending ECURIE Information messages was introduced by the

Commission In-Commission or commissioning may refer to: Business and contracting * Commission (remuneration), a form of payment to an agent for services rendered ** Commission (art), the purchase or the creation of a piece of art most often on behalf of anot ...

in 2001. Since then, there have been more than 20 information messages. In 1987, the

European Council The European Council (informally EUCO) is a collegiate body (directorial system) and a symbolic collective head of state, that defines the overall political direction and general priorities of the European Union (EU). It is composed of the he ...

mandated an early notification and information exchange system that:

requires from the ECURIE Member States that they promptly notify the European Commission (EC) and all the Member States potentially affected when they intend to take counter-measures in order to protect their population against the effects of a radiological or nuclear accident. The EC will immediately forward this notification to all Member States. Following this first notification, all Member States are required to inform the Commission at appropriate intervals about the measures they take and the radioactivity levels they have measured.

All 27

EU Member States The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated population of over 449million as of 2024. The EU is often de ...

have signed the ECURIE agreement, as well as Switzerland, Norway and North Macedonia. Iceland, Montenegro, Serbia, and Turkey have also been invited. ECURIE is operated by the DG ENER of the European Commission with the Joint Research Centre responsible for technical development.

Usage

* The first ever activation of the ECURIE (European Community Urgent Radiological Information Exchange) system was after a

loss-of-coolant accident A loss-of-coolant accident (LOCA) is a mode of failure for a nuclear reactor; if not managed effectively, the results of a LOCA could result in reactor core damage. Each nuclear plant's emergency core cooling system (ECCS) exists specifically to ...

(LOCA) in the

Krško Nuclear Power Plant The Krško Nuclear Power Plant (, JEK, or , NEK, ; ) is located in Vrbina in the City Municipality of Krško, Slovenia. The plant was connected to the power grid on October 2, 1981, and went into commercial operation on January 15, 1983. It was ...

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

on 4 June 2008. The power plant was safely shut down to a secure mode after a leak in the cooling circuit. According to the Slovenian Nuclear Safety Administration (the country's nuclear watchdog agency), no radioactive release into the environment occurred and none was expected. The event did not affect employees, the nearby population or the environment. Slovenian authorities immediately notified the proper international institutions, including the

International Atomic Energy Agency The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) is an intergovernmental organization that seeks to promote the peaceful use of nuclear technology, nuclear energy and to inhibit its use for any military purpose, including nuclear weapons. It was ...

and ECURIE. The EU then notified (through ECURIE) the remaining EU member states, issuing an EU-wide alert. Several news agencies around the world then reported on the incident. Surprisingly, the

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

n authorities were not directly informed about the incident, although Croatia ''is'' part of the ECURIE system. Many Croatians heard the news first through foreign media and expatriates. Krško is located a mere 15 km from the Croatian border. * After an

iodine-131 Iodine-131 (131I, I-131) is an important radioisotope of iodine discovered by Glenn Seaborg and John Livingood in 1938 at the University of California, Berkeley. It has a radioactive decay half-life of about eight days. It is associated with nu ...

release at the Belgian

Institut national des Radio-Eléments An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

Fleurus Fleurus (; ) is a city and municipality of Wallonia located in the province of Hainaut, Belgium. It has been the site of four major battles. The municipality consists of the following districts: Brye, Heppignies, Fleurus, Lambusart, Saint-Am ...

, 29 August 2008.ECURIE ALERT: Belgian nuclear authorities alert the Commission about measures taken after releases of radioactive iodine
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References

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External links

The European Community Urgent Radiological Information Exchange
Nuclear safety and security Warning systems Energy in the European Union Health and the European Union

Usage

See also

References

External links