An ad hoc committee under the auspices of the Forum on Resilience to International Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear (CBRN) Events will plan an international, science-based CBRN resilience exercise or simulated drill in collaboration with the science community in Japan. This is expected to be the first in a series of exercises in other countries. The purpose of these exercises is to increase understanding of the communication, interoperability, and coordination among international actors during a CBRN event. The first exercise will focus on Japan’s experience with CBRN events, including the 2011 Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident and previous intentional CBRN events.

Key points that the Japan exercise could address include: what Japan has learned from its experience that will shape how the country provides assistance to other nations that experience CBRN events; specialization (chemical or biological or rad/nuke) versus all-hazards preparedness and response; roles and responsibilities of national, international, and non-governmental entities; needs of the host country and resources of international partners; government and non-government (commercial and NGO) resources and capabilities and how they can enhance each other; experience with exercises for international cooperation for disaster response and lessons learned from those; and possible strategies for strengthening international partnership and preparedness.

A rapporteur’s summary of the exercise and the associated discussions immediately before, during, and after the exercise will be issued in compliance with NRC procedures. Presentations from the exercise may also be posted on the project’s website.