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February 27, 2007 Pennsylvania's emergency preparedness shown lacking by folks stranded for 24 hours on I-78 during ice storm Eric Epstein of TMI-Alert wrote an op ed a few days ago titled "Snow storm and nuclear emergency plan". He asks "If we can't get people off a highway for more than 24 hours due to snow and ice, how are we going to evacuate an entire population living in the 10 mile Emergency Planning Zone around a nuclear power plant?" He also expresses disdain for the continued failure to include Pennsylvania's preschool children and nursery schoolers in nuclear emergency plans: "Governor Rendell, PEMA, and the nuclear industry continue to argue that it is not their responsibility to help these kids get out of harm's way. Playing a nuclear shell game with children is not emergency planning." Mr. Epstein emailed a copy of his op ed to NRC. The email, dated February 24, 2007, is available as ADAMS ACN ML070570480. July 1, 2006 China's response capabilities to nuclear emergency - broad outline adopted for 5-year plan China's State Nuclear Accident Emergency Coordination Commission adopted an outline which specified seven main tasks for the work of handling nuclear emergencies in our country. The seven main tasks are as follows, according to Sun Qin, vice-minister of the National Defence Science, Technology, and Industry Commission and chairman of the State Nuclear Accident Emergency Coordination Commission: * Perfect the nuclear emergency organizational system. On the basis of consolidating the current nuclear emergency management system in the nuclear power plants, further perfect the nuclear emergency organization system in our country, make it gradually cover all nuclear facilities and all nuclear activities. * The state will set up a group of nuclear emergency technology support centres in relevant scientific research institutes, institutions of higher education, military forces, and large nuclear enterprises. * Professional nuclear emergency rescue detachments with strong professional capability and flexible mobility will be set up in large nuclear enterprises, relevant scientific research institutes, institutions of higher education, and armed forces. They include emergency radiation detection and monitoring detachments, aviation radiation detection and monitoring detachments, medical rescue and treatment detachments, and pollution cleansing detachments. * Improve the functions of the state nuclear emergency command centre, and the nuclear emergency command centres in the provinces with nuclear power plants and in the institutions that operate nuclear power plants. * Set up an accident consequence evaluation and decision-making support system with complete functions in the state nuclear emergency command centre. * Build a nationwide nuclear emergency network. By combining the means of digitalized network communications with the means of conventional communications, realize information sharing between the state nuclear emergency command centre, all nuclear power plant operation institutions, the nuclear emergency command centres in the provinces with nuclear power plants, and other relevant departments and units. * Develop critical technologies for handling nuclear emergencies, such as the technology for appraising threats to facilities, and the technology for monitoring radiation in emergencies. [Source: Xinhua news agency, "State authorities determine seven tasks for handling nuclear emergencies in the period of the 11th Five-Year Plan", June 28, 2006 0935 GMT (translated from the Chinese by BBC Monitoring, July 1, 2006)] December 28, 2005 * Ft Calhoun - TSC filtered vent system found rendered ineffective (an access cover had been removed) August 23, 2005 * Indian Point - good people have come up with the best possible plan for an evacuation. It won't work June 1, 2005 * Wolf Creek - NRC to participate in November 16, 2005 emergency plan exercise April 18, 2005 *
Nuclear reactor shut down to investigate problem
Millstone-3 shut itself down after detecting a problem yesterday morning, causing a release of non-radioactive steam into the air, a plant official said. A problem in the steam system was discovered at about 8:30 a.m. Some residents near the plant were concerned and called Millstone because the release of steam is not a usual event at the complex, Dominion Nuclear Connecticut spokesperson Pete Hyde said. Dominion declared an alert, the second lowest of four action levels in Millstone's emergency response plan, at about 8:42 a.m. The alert was canceled at about 7 p.m. There was no release of radioactive material and no one was injured, Hyde said. Millstone officials said Unit 3 would be shut down indefinitely while the problem is found and fixed. September 3, 2004 * St. Lucie - Hurricane Francis warning triggers e-plan * Turkey Point - Hurricane Francis warning triggers e-plan August 16, 2004 * Brunswick - one of 36 evacuation sirens inadvertently alarmed for about 48 minutes * Brunswick - Hurricane Charley warning prompted e-plan Unusual Event * Crystal River - Hurricane Charley warning prompted e-plan Unusual Event June 3, 2004 Vermont Yankee - overview of NRC's approach to emergency preparedness A resident of Greenfield, Mass. expressed concerns, via letter to NRC, about Vermont Yankee, including emergency planning. Here's excerpt from NRC official's reply letter: NRC regulations require that comprehensive emergency plans be prepared and periodically exercised to assure that actions can and will be taken to notify and protect citizens in the vicinity of a nuclear facility in the unlikely event of a radiological emergency. The NRC regulates the onsite emergency planning and requires nuclear plant operators to have detailed procedures for handling accidents, making timely notification to appropriate authorities, and providing accurate radiological information. Our oversight involves direct assessment of onsite emergency planning and preparedness of the facilities that we regulate, in addition to oversight of plant operations and security. At the Federal level, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has the lead in offsite emergency planning and response for nuclear power plants. The NRC assists FEMA in carrying out this role. Both the NRC and FEMA evaluated the most recent exercise at Vermont Yankee in April 2003, and both agencies determined that there is reasonable assurance that appropriate protective measures to protect the health and safety of surrounding communities can be taken and are capable of being implemented in the event of a radiological incident at Vermont Yankee.
March 30, 2004 * Hatch - loss of a major offsite notification system for 13 minutes March 29, 2004 March 12, 2004 * Monticello - dose rates from reactor shine could trigger TSC evacuation February 18, 2004 * Callaway - permanent repairs complete to emergency sirens re temperature sensitivity February 17, 2004 * Ginna - NOUE: electrical fault caused explosion (instrument air compressor controller) January 13, 2004 December 11, 2003 * Palisades - unannounced drill was misunderstood as announcing nearby chemical plant spill December 9, 2003 * Ginna - siren, thought to have blared, may not have August 28, 2003 Should private institutions, like day care, be required to have emergency evacuation plan? A parent of a child enrolled in a private nursery school near TMI was surprised to learn that private day care centers and schools aren't required to have evacuation plans in the event of a nuclear plant emergency. He and a non-governmental organization have petitioned the NRC to require such facilities within ten miles of a nuclear plant be included in the emergency planning process. NRC expects to issue a decision on the petition by November 1. The state of Pennsylvania opposes the petition, because it believes it inappropriate to mandate such action by private institutions. There's nothing that prohibits private facilities from participating in the emergency planning process, and parents are free to choose the schools and day care centers that provide the level of preparedness that parents feel is appropriate for their situation. [Source: Martha Raffaele (AP writer), "Federal mandate sought for preschool evacuation plans", The Associated Press, August 28, 2003 12:05 AM Eastern Time] August 13, 2003 Cape May County Emergency Management Director Frank McCall updated the board and public on emergency evacuation routes out of Cape May County. Residents have criticized the county for having evacuation routes through Salem County, where three nuclear plants operate. While McCall maintained that federal and state officials control the evacuation routes, he also challenged claims that the county would need to evacuate if a nuclear accident occurred at Salem. The emergency management director said that the county was well beyond the 10-mile radius around the plants where evacuations would have to occur. He also said that a nuclear plume would dissipate before reaching Cape May County in all but extreme circumstances. The extreme circumstances? A northwest wind of no more than 4 mph, high humidity and cloud cover, he said. "And in that case, we'd have 15 hours notification," he said. [Source: W.F. Keough, "Cape May News", The Press of Atlantic City, August 13, 2003] August 2, 2003 * Indian Point-Counterpoint; Closing nuke plants wouldn't ease terrorist threats, but would squeeze NY power supply
July 2, 2003 * LaSalle - faulty emergency siren alarmed without cause for 90 minutes yesterday July 1, 2003 * Perry - Unusual Event prompted by Ohio earthquake (3.4 on Richter scale) June 18, 2003 June 11, 2003 * Sequoyah sirens - storm knocked out power to 23 of 108 emergency sirens June 10, 2003 The $200,000 hard drive glitch Oyster Creek spent $200,000 upgrading the emergency siren system, prompted by hard drive problem that delayed siren use by minutes about three months ago. Part of the new system is redundancy provided by equipment located at State Police headquarters. [Source: Andrew Johnson (Staff Writer, The Press of Atlantic City), "Oyster Creek plant to test new sirens", The Press of Atlantic City, June 10, 2003] May 14, 2003 Gov. Pataki steers clear of public debate over Indian Point e-plan The Indian Point Safe Energy Coalition wants Gov. Pataki to join them in calling for shutdown of the nuclear plants at Indian Point. During re-election campaign last year, the Gov. said that his opinion on whether the plants should be closed would be based on a then-forthcoming report by former FEMA director James Witt. The governor's spokesperson, Suzanne Morris, told local newspaper that "Ultimately, the JLW report did not recommend the closure of the facility." The newspaper noted, however, that "Witt was not asked to study if the plants should be closed, only to evaluate the emergency evacuation plans." [Source: Roger Witherspoon, "Pataki dodging Indian Point, activists say", The Journal News (White Plains, NY), May 14, 2003] Overview of Witt report and repercussions Witt concluded that the emergency plans would not work in a serious emergency because of the region's dense population and limited infrastructure. He criticized every aspect of the plans, including the underlying assumptions used by his former agency and the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission to develop and test the plans. As a result of Witt's report, the four county executives refused to sign annual certifications stating that the plans had been updated and were effective. The county executives refused to send the documents to the State Emergency Management Office, halting what for years had been a routine process. The state, in turn, refused to send its own approval of the plans to FEMA, citing the counties' lack of cooperation. FEMA has since been gathering information on its own, and officials said they would make a recommendation soon to the NRC about the evacuation plans. [Source: Roger Witherspoon, "Pataki dodging Indian Point, activists say", The Journal News (White Plains, NY), May 14, 2003]
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