National Federation of Radio Amateurs in the Service of Civil Security

The Fédération nationale des radioamateurs au service de la sécurité civile (FNRASEC) is a French non-profit federation that brings together volunteer radio amateurs and a small number of shortwave listeners who place their skills and equipment at the service of civil security in France. It was created in 1972 at the request of the Ministry of the Interior and is organized as an association under the French law of 1901. Its headquarters are in Asnières-sur-Seine. By decree of 15 October 2012, the federation was recognized as an établissement d'utilité publique (a public-interest establishment), a status that confirms its general-interest mission. The federation is built from local associations: ADRASEC (Associations départementales des radioamateurs au service de la sécurité civile) in the metropolitan departments and ATRASEC (Associations territoriales) in the overseas territories. Each ADRASEC or ATRASEC is made up of roughly 95% radio amateurs and 5% listeners, and together they represent close to 1,600 volunteers. France is divided into defence and security zones, and for each zone a manager and a deputy manager, elected by the departmental presidents, handle the administrative coordination of the ADRASEC in that zone. FNRASEC's purpose is to provide an auxiliary, mobile detection and transmission infrastructure that can be activated exclusively by prefectoral or national authority. It is a civil-security-approved association holding a national approval (agrément national) from the Ministry of the Interior for type A missions — "establishment and operation of auxiliary and supplementary transmission networks" — renewed by an order of 2 January 2019. Its best-known operational frameworks include the ORSEC emergency plan, for which it establishes and operates radio networks at the request of prefectures; the SATER plan for the search of aircraft in distress through listening and direction-finding of distress beacons; underground rescue operations organized with the Spéléo Secours Français; and specific ORSEC arrangements and Particular Intervention Plans (PPI) covering nuclear, earthquake, storm, snow, pollution and underground rescue scenarios. Technically, the amateur service has 33 frequency bands from 135 kHz to 250 GHz, giving FNRASEC volunteers the ability to adapt to all types of terrain, above and below ground, and to cover long distances. Image transmission through amateur television or slow-scan television (SSTV) can also be a valuable decision-support tool. The federation is administered by an elected council including zone managers, commission managers and administrators, with an executive bureau of a president, vice-president, secretary-general and treasurer-general elected for one year. Technical commissions cover areas such as technology, relays and frequencies, awards, training, communication, equipment, IT and international relations.

The origins of FNRASEC lie in the international recognition of the role that radio amateurs can play in safeguarding human life. The World Administrative Radio Conference held in Geneva in 1979 (WARC 1979) confirmed in its RSBN resolution the growing importance of amateur radio participation in acts of saving human life. Later, ITU-R Recommendation M 1042 of 23 October 1993 recommended that administrations encourage the development of organized and structured amateur radio networks such as those of FNRASEC. The 2003 World Radiocommunication Conference further specified, in Article 25-3/2, that amateur stations may be used to transmit communications from or to third parties only in emergency situations or for disaster relief, and invited administrations to take the necessary measures to allow amateur stations to prepare to meet communication needs for disaster relief operations. At the national level, the federation itself was created in 1972 at the request of the French Ministry of the Interior. It was constituted as an association under the French law of 1901 and built as a federation of departmental and territorial associations that it creates: the ADRASEC for the metropolitan departments and the ATRASEC for the overseas territories, whose action may extend to neighbouring departments or territories, except by exceptional derogation granted by the national bureau. A key institutional milestone came with the convention of 27 June 2002, under which the Ministry of the Interior, represented by the director of Defence and Civil Security, High Defence Official, recognized FNRASEC as a structure enabling radio amateurs of metropolitan France and the DOM/TOM to participate officially in the mission of safeguarding human life. A decade later, by decree of 15 October 2012, the association known as "Fédération nationale des radioamateurs au service de la sécurité civile - FNRASEC", with its headquarters in Asnières-sur-Seine (92), was recognized as an établissement d'utilité publique. The federation's operational approval was also renewed over time. It is a civil-security-approved association holding a national approval issued by the Ministry of the Interior for type A missions — "establishment and operation of auxiliary and supplementary transmission networks" — renewed by an order of 2 January 2019. Throughout its existence, FNRASEC has continued to organize its volunteers by defence and security zones, with each zone led by a manager and deputy manager elected by departmental presidents, and to maintain technical commissions covering technology, relays and frequencies, awards, training, communication, equipment, IT and international relations. Its day-to-day activity, as reflected in its news feed, includes technical meetings, major-risk awareness days, open days with local radio clubs, and honours awarded to members by the Ministry of the Interior.

• 2019

  National civil-security approval for type A missions renewed by an order of 2 January 2019.

• 2012

  Decree of 15 October 2012 recognizes FNRASEC, headquartered in Asnières-sur-Seine, as an établissement d'utilité publique.

• 2003

  World Radiocommunication Conference 2003 specifies in Article 25-3/2 the conditions for amateur stations in emergency and disaster relief communications.

• 2002

  Convention of 27 June 2002: the Ministry of the Interior officially recognizes FNRASEC as a structure for radio amateurs to participate in the life-saving mission.

• 1993

  ITU-R Recommendation M 1042 of 23 October 1993 recommends administrations encourage organized amateur radio networks such as FNRASEC.

• 1979

  WARC 1979 in Geneva confirms in its RSBN resolution the growing importance of amateur radio participation in saving human life.

• 1972

  FNRASEC created at the request of the French Ministry of the Interior as an association under the law of 1901.

A public-interest, volunteer-run federation providing auxiliary radio communications infrastructure for French civil security, activated only by prefectoral or national authority.

• ORSEC plan radio network support

  Establishment and operation of transmission networks at the request of prefectures when the ORSEC plan is activated.

• SATER plan

  Search for aircraft in distress through listening and direction-finding of positioning beacons.

• Underground rescue radio support

  With Spéléo Secours Français, the engaged ADRASEC acts as radio referent from the start, establishing a surface radio network and assisting with surface radio equipment.

• PPI and specific ORSEC arrangements

  Support for specialized departmental ORSEC arrangements: nuclear, earthquake, storm, snow, pollution and underground rescue.

• Amateur television and SSTV image transmission

  Image transmission via amateur television or slow-scan television as a decision-support tool.

1. 1Accueil - FNRASECfnrasec.org
2. 2Fédération nationale des radioamateurs au service de la sécurité civilewikidata.org
3. 3Fédération nationale des radioamateurs au service de la sécurité civilefr.wikipedia.org