DEPZ meaning

Detailed Emergency Planning Zone (DEPZ) describes the off‑site area around a nuclear site within which the local authority pre‑plans to protect the public if a radiation emergency occurs. In practice, it is the risk‑based, site‑specific boundary used to frame the off‑site emergency plan, public warning and information duties, and pre‑determined protective actions (for example sheltering, evacuation and stable iodine distribution). In Great Britain (England, Wales and Scotland), the concept and its determination are set out in the Radiation (Emergency Preparedness and Public Information) Regulations 2019 (REPPIR 2019) and Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) guidance. The local authority determines the DEPZ, informed by the operator’s risk assessment and consultation with the ONR and others, and must prepare, maintain and exercise the off‑site emergency plan for that zone. DEPZ boundaries are designed to be extendible so that arrangements can be rapidly scaled if incident conditions require. In Northern Ireland, materially similar duties apply under the local REPPIR regulations. In Ireland, REPPIR does not apply and “DEPZ” is not the usual term; emergency planning for transboundary nuclear hazards is organised under the National Emergency Plan for Nuclear Accidents using nationally defined planning zones.