National Arrangements for Incidents involving Radioactivity (NAIR)

Radioactive materials are used for many purposes in industry, medicine and research and there are thousands of transport movements associated with these activities each year. NAIR was set up to protect the public from hazards arising from the use and transport of radioactive materials and in situations where no formal contingency plans exist. The Centre for Radiation, Chemicals and Environmental Hazards (CRCE) of the Health Protection Agency (HPA) co-ordinates the NAIR arrangements.

Those requiring assistance from the NAIR scheme should in the first instance contact the Communications Centre of the Civil Nuclear Constabulary on 0800 834153.

NAIR provides quick and widely available assistance to the police and other emergency services where no radiation expert is otherwise available. Assistance is provided in two stages and is drawn from hospitals, the nuclear industry and government departments.

Stage 1 assistance is normally provided by a radiation expert, who, with the aid of simple monitoring equipment, can tell whether a hazard exists and advise the police on appropriate action. If necessary, the police will be advised to obtain Stage 2 assistance.

Stage 2 assistance provides more sophisticated resources for handling the incident. It normally involves a small team of experts with readily available transport, monitoring and decontamination equipment and special clothing.

For more information on any aspect of the Arrangements, please contact the HPA CRCE Emergency Response Group:

Telephone: 44 (0)1235 822782
Fax: 44 (0)1235 833891
E-mail: nair@hpa.org.uk

The Users' Handbook (2009 edition) is published as a leaflet; copies can be obtained from the CRCE Emergency Response Group.  It is also available online: NAIR 2009 (PDF, 188 KB)

The NAIR Technical Handbook (2002 edition) is available as a report published by the National Radiological Protection Board, NRPB-W7.

Training courses are provided by the HPA CRCE for staff nominated by organisations participating in NAIR, further details are available.

Last reviewed: 15 February 2011