National ABC deployment concept - 11. -

11. Nuclear Technical Relief Service GmbH (Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen)

Due to the militant protests of the anti-nuclear movement against the construction of nuclear power plants and nuclear waste storage facilities in the FRG, the criminal nuclear industry was exposed to massive criticism. To alleviate the pressure, the electricity companies decided to set up their own emergency force in order to be able to provide help in the event of a serious "incident". In 1977, the Kerntechnische Hilfsdienst (KHG) was established as a private company. Mr. Walter Sturz acts as managing director today AREVA, EnBW, E.ON, RWE, Vattenfall, the Karlsruhe reprocessing plant and the Jülich research center.

The auxiliary service consists of 24 permanent staff, who can be reinforced by 164 men in the event of an emergency. The company's headquarters are located near the Karlsruhe nuclear research facility. A self-description of the operational readiness states: "5 men of the regular crew are available within an hour and can move away after a set-up time of approx. 2 hours (depending on the situation)."

The equipment of the emergency service includes a mobile operations center and 20 roll-off containers or semi-trailers, which can be brought to their place of use either with swap bodies, trucks (Mercedes Benz) or by train. The vehicle fleet includes a mobile radiation measurement laboratory and three radiation measurement vehicles. Twelve Skylink radio probes can be placed on site to measure the local dose rate. A mobile decontamination system (MDA), two personal shower containers and an Alpha cleaning machine are available for decontamination. To get into danger areas, the KHG has several radiation-hardened robots, including a heavy manipulator vehicle (SMF), manipulators MF3 and MF4, and a radio-controlled caterpillar. The emergency vehicles do not have any lettering, but they can be recognized by insiders by their dark brown paintwork with light brown stripes. (33)

The company says about the specific tasks in the event of an "incident" or a worst-case scenario:

"Our main areas of responsibility are:

- Radiation protection measurements inside and outside the facility

- Radiation protection monitoring of personnel, especially emergency personnel

- Recovery of radioactive material, as well as inspections and work at locations with the highest dose rate with remote-controlled manipulator vehicles

- Decontamination of personnel, devices and rooms

- Exhaust air filtering with mobile systems

- Takeover of slightly radioactive waste water

- Equipping emergency personnel with protective clothing and respiratory protection "(34)

The KHG occasionally carries out an exercise, for example in the Ahaus interim storage facility in September 2005.

Address:

Nuclear Technical Assistance Service GmbH

At Schröcker Tor 1

76344 Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen

Phone: 07247 / 81-0

Fax: 07247 / 81-146

Email: mail@KHGmbh.de

Website: http://www.khgmbh.de

*

Sources:

(33) Nuclear auxiliary service: remote handling, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, undated,
Online: http://www.khgmbh.de/fernhantierung

(34) Nuclear auxiliary service: shareholder structure, Eggenstein-Leopoldshafen, undated,
Online: http://www.khgmbh.de/gesellschaftsstruktur

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