{"id":328561,"date":"2020-04-07T19:59:41","date_gmt":"2020-04-08T02:59:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/?post_type=arcnews&p=328561"},"modified":"2020-04-07T18:19:36","modified_gmt":"2020-04-08T01:19:36","slug":"in-lithuanian-nuclear-accident-simulation-gis-delivers-success","status":"publish","type":"arcnews","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/about\/newsroom\/arcnews\/in-lithuanian-nuclear-accident-simulation-gis-delivers-success","title":{"rendered":"In Lithuanian Nuclear Accident Simulation, GIS Delivers Success"},"author":5752,"featured_media":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"sync_status":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"","castos_file_data":"","podmotor_file_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"","filesize":"","filesize_raw":"","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":"","itunes_episode_number":"","itunes_title":"","itunes_season_number":"","itunes_episode_type":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1041,237591,211],"tags":[8022,438501,290122,118382,137792],"arcnews_issues":[430091],"class_list":["post-328561","arcnews","type-arcnews","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-collaboration","category-disaster-response","category-public-safety","tag-disaster-preparedness","tag-drill","tag-emergency-operations","tag-government","tag-simulation","arcnews_issues-spring-2020","arcnews_sections-your-work"],"acf":{"short_description":"ArcGIS Enterprise was key to the four-day drill, which aimed to maximize the government\u2019s emergency preparedness and response efforts.","pdf":{"host_remotely":false,"file":"","file_url":""},"flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"Built about 30 miles from Lithuania\u2019s capital city of Vilnius, the Astravets multireactor nuclear power plant in Belarus is due to begin full operations soon, after eight years of construction. The power plant has been a cause for ongoing regional tension and international concern, particularly for Lithuanian government leaders, who consider Astravets a potential risk for a nuclear radiation leak\u2014one that could easily reach a third of Lithuania\u2019s 2.8 million people.\r\n\r\nConsequently, Lithuania\u2019s national leaders instituted civil protection measures. A wide array of federal agency stakeholders participated in this process, including the Fire and Rescue Department (FRD), which is under the Ministry of the Interior; the Government Emergency Commission; subordinate agencies; and other ministries and municipal organizations. Experts at the FRD and the Ministry of the Interior drafted an associated National Emergency Plan for Nuclear Accidents to prepare for the possibility of a nuclear or radiological incident."},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":328571,"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"In October 2019, Lithuanian government officials directed FRD staff to lead a four-day, multiagency simulation of a nuclear accident. The team needed to thoroughly evaluate its disaster preparedness, response, and recovery procedures to be sure everyone would be ready in the event of a radioactive threat to the Lithuanian people. The objective of this real-world exercise was to put into practice the skills and capabilities of the agencies that comprise the Lithuanian civil protection system by performing the functions defined in the National Emergency Plan for Nuclear Accidents.\r\n\r\n\u201cThe exercise would allow us to test and practically measure the implementation of functions foreseen in the national plan,\u201d said Edgaras Geda, head of the civil protection board at FRD. \u201cPreparation and planning for the exercise would be beneficial to participating institutions, enabling them to better understand the complex issues related to a potential radioactive accident at the Belarusian NPP. The exercise would also measure interagency cooperation and provide a common understanding of how to carry out the emergency functions.\u201d\r\n\r\nTo perform the emergency simulation effectively, the team needed tools that could help establish a new workflow for the documentation, analysis, and distribution of key operational performance indicators. Esri\u2019s local distributor in Lithuania, Hnit-Baltic, introduced FRD to ArcGIS Enterprise, a complete geospatial system that operates behind an organization\u2019s firewall or in the cloud, to use for the exercise. The spatial technology included with the platform, such as smart maps, dashboards, and mobile apps, would help stakeholders document, assess, and share safety issues and potential challenges realized during the simulation."},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":328581,"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"

Familiar Technology Creates a Common Operating Picture<\/h2>\r\nFRD was actually already familiar with Esri technology. For more than a decade, the department had used earlier versions of the ArcGIS platform, so staff understood that new ArcGIS technology, supplemented with a customized Radiation Incident Module (RIM), could provide a comprehensive process monitoring solution for the emergency exercises.\r\n\r\n\u201cWith ArcGIS, we would be able to combine spatial data from different sources and provide a real-time common operating picture of the emergency exercises to all involved institutions, shared on smart maps,\u201d said Geda. \u201cThis was very important for us, not only for the decision-making process within the civil protection system but also for our public information sharing efforts.\u201d\r\n\r\nFor the drill, FRD used the following tools in ArcGIS Enterprise to create a common operating picture for all participants:\r\n