World Meteorological Organization

The World Meteorological Organization (WMO) has established a WMO Integrated Processing and Prediction System (WIPPS) activity for nuclear environmental emergency response and has designated 10 Regional Specialized Meteorological Centres (RSMCs) to conduct this activity:

RSMC Beijing RSMC Offenbach
RSMC Exeter RSMC Tokyo
RSMC Melbourne RSMC Toulouse
RSMC Montreal RSMC Vienna
RSMC Obninsk RSMC Washington

Global arrangements
Until such time as new RSMCs have been designated, it is proposed that RA VI designated RSMCs be responsible for providing services for radiological emergencies to RA I; RA IV designated RSMCs be responsible for providing services to RA III; and the RA V designated RSMC, in collaboration with RA IV designated RSMCs, be responsible for providing services to RA V and the Antarctic.

Working arrangements
The RSMCs designated by WMO for the provision of atmospheric transport and dispersion modelling (ATDM) products for nuclear environmental emergency response shall:
(a) Provide products only when either the delegated authority of any country in the RSMC region of responsibility or IAEA requests RSMC support. Upon receipt of a request from the delegated authority or from IAEA, the RSMC shall provide basic information to the NMHS of that country or to IAEA, respectively. If multiple requests are received, highest priority shall be given to IAEA requests;

To request and receive support from the RSMCs, it is essential that each Member identify two personnel for the following roles:
(1) An “authorized person”, as set out in Section 2.2.2.7 Nuclear environmental emergency response of the above manual, who is authorized to request support from the RSMCs;
(2) An “operational contact point” who is available round-the-clock to receive the forecast products from the RSMCs. It is recommended that this person use a generic email address, monitored 24/7, to permit seamless communication.