Jan 26 2005
Elliot Morley, Environment Minister, today announced that Government will be setting up a new central Service to help authorities and organisations prepare for and deal with incidents where chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear (CBRN) materials are released into the environment.
The new Service will provide expert advice and guidance on decontaminating buildings and the environment after a CBRN incident.
The move announced today is part of the Government's commitment to ensuring that well-laid plans are in place to prevent and respond to a range of CBRN emergencies.
Elliot Morley, Minister of State for the Environment, said:
"As I announced in March last year, we have been considering the best way to deliver expert advice and guidance on preparing for and responding to decontamination of the built and open environment.
"The new Decontamination Service will have a UK-wide remit to help those responsible for clearing up after a CBRN incident, such as local authorities, to make sure they have considered and planned for decontamination. It will also ensure that if there were an incident involving CBRN, authorities would be able to call upon a carefully assessed panel of specialist companies to carry out the decontamination operations."
The new service will:
- help organisations to include decontamination in their contingency plans for CBRN incidents;
- regularly test the arrangements, that are in place, for decontamination;
- rigorously assess the ability of specialist companies in the private sector to carry out decontamination operations so those responsible for clean-up can have confidence in choosing the services they require;
- ensure authorities have ready access to those services if the need arises; and
- advise Central Government on the national capability for the decontamination of buildings and the environment in the event of a release of CBRN materials.
The Decontamination Service is part of the Government's commitment to building resilience to deal with the consequences of a range of emergencies and has been developed as part of the cross-government CBRN Resilience Programme, led by the Home Office.
http://www.gnn.gov.uk/